Worlds of War
by Lasski
Summary: Jareth will save them all, as long as he gets what he wants. Jareth/Sarah. This is an edited version of this story to comply with the non NC-17 ratings here but still very much M rated.
1. Ch1: The life we live

Author: Lasski

Title: Worlds of War

Disclaimer: Not mine

Rating: R (because it lets me do whatever I want)

Chapter 1: The Life We Live

"Johnny, get down!" shouted Sarah as she dove behind a large blue rubbish bin just in time to miss the spray of bullets hitting the dirt where she had been moments before. Sarah gasped for breath and almost regretted it as the smell of rotting rubbish hit her system; the rain pouring down only intensified the stink. She felt the tin against her back shudder as Johnny slumped down beside her, panting harshly.

"Thanks for the tip" he grinned at her, eyes shining with adrenaline from under his blond bangs, "no pun intended of course". Sarah rolled her eyes at the smiling maniac. His faced was smudged with dirt as was Sarah's and the dark clothes they wore only added to the dangerous presence they radiated, not to mention the automatic guns.

Another series of shots were fired down the alley they were in before a distant round echoed it some blocks down. One or two bullets ricocheted off the bin and they both flinched at the sound. Sarah checked her weapon, making sure it still had ammo while looking further down the lane and further into the darkness. "I'll cover, you run to the next point" and, at Johnny's confirming nod, rose up and fired out back into the main street. Over the gunshots she could dimly hear her partner's footsteps sprinting away.

Sarah ducked down as an answering rain of shots were fired and hoped that the bin would hold out against the onslaught. As soon as the attack had passed she sprinted down into the ally. Ahead in the darkness she could just make out Johnny who held a heavy metal sewer lid up. Sarah fell to the ground lending all her weight to her feet and slid the last few meters on the wet ground and into the sewer tunnels below.

She landed hard but ignored the pain and rolled sideways just in time to miss Johnny's feet as he came down. Above them the metal lid rolled and rattled into place before silence descended, broken by the soft pitter of rain. Their peace was shot-lived. A blinding bright light shot into Sarah eyes and she raised her arm in defense. The familiar sounds of guns cocking ran simultaneously with the barking voice. "Stay where you are and don't move or you will be shot."

"Black Team, Spades, Ace. Williams and Kell" answered Johnny from behind Sarah and she waited for the response.

It came in a deep voiced laughter. "Hell, I knew it was you two. Just screwing with your heads. Arms up people, these two mongrels are our lot."

"Mac" muttered Sarah as the light left her eyes and she was pulled up off the ground by strong arms. "If I wasn't so damn sore I'd kick your butt from here to Hawaii and back."

Mac Adams, half of the head of the Red Team Diamonds, lost his grin for a minute and gave Sarah the once over. "You're not hit then, are you?" He looked to Johnny, "either of you?"

"We're fine," answered Sarah, "but I landed wrong coming into the sewers and my backside hurts like crazy. "Where's Melinda?" Melinda was the other leader of Mac's team, just as Johnny and Sarah were the leaders of the Spade Team.

Mac indicated his head back down the sewers; "she took teams Five, Ten, Jack and King to scout around the east edges of the city for anything of use out there. Should be back before midnight, but lets get you two back to base, you look like the walking dead."

Sarah smiled and Johnny gave a snort of laughter and followed Mac and his group deeper into the sewers. The twinging agony at the base of her spine confirmed a bruised tailbone that would be haunting her for days, and it wouldn't be a first. Maybe she could convince the other team leaders to place cushions at the sewer drops. 'Yeah Williams' she mocked herself, 'and where would you get cushions from. Just walk right up to the Superiors and say - look, we need some extra cushions so that when we drop into the sewers to get away from your Force Groups we won't get sore butts. That would go down really well.'

Eleven years ago, when Sarah was 16, a group known as the Superiors started forcibly taking over major cities of the world and they moved too fast for world leaders to retaliate. It seemed as though followers of the Superiors had infiltrated into every major area of profession in every town, city and lonely country settlement, and no one seemed to know who was on whose side. The free world didn't stand a chance.

The self-named Superiors believed that the world should be controlled under one group of leaders and that all others be slaved into making the world a "better place." Of course, there would be some that held more power than others would but then that was the price of forcing order into a world of chaos. A dictatorship of the worse kind was the only way they believed this possible - and they used Force Groups to control the masses and wipe out any resistance. As a result the world had turned into a wasteland and a battleground where resistance groups for freedom tried to gain some footing… but it was a loosing battle. Yet all who fought knew that they just couldn't roll over and give in to the force of the Superiors - they would rather die, and die they did daily. The sewers were the only safe place left in Seattle after the Superiors had taken it over six years ago.

Now, at the age of 27, Sarah had risen in the ranks of the freedom fighters in Seattle City, lived from hand to mouth and on a kill or be killed basis. Hell, they all did. Seattle had four main squads that were based on a card deck - Spades, Clubs, Diamonds and Hearts. The alpha team was the Ace Team and leaders always consisted of one male and one female. Every other team from Twos through to Kings was paired between two people; you watched your partner's back and they watched yours. The four squads were family and you partner was your twin, that was the way it was. Sarah shielded away from thoughts of her original family; she hadn't seen them in over nine years and there was no point hoping if there were still alive. Perhaps it would have been better if Sarah had lost all those years ago and let Toby be turned into a -

"There's a meeting on tonight after midnight" Mac cut into Sarah's thoughts, "make sure one of you gets your butt there to be informed." He clapped a hand to Sarah's shoulder before leading his group over to the makeshift mess hall.

Johnny and Sarah headed off to an unoccupied corner of home base and dumped their gear. Guns, grenades, rope, lighters, flares, knives and a variety of other things that they always carried with themselves when they went topside - it always paid to be prepared. Sarah carefully laid down her favourite weapons. Five shining metal morning stars, sharp as the sun's bite in the desert. A few years back, when trade between cities was still possible she paid a fortune to an Asian man for them, enamored with the dangerous quality they communicated. Day after day after day she had practiced with them, until she could throw them perfectly, unerringly hit her target. Whenever she used them in battle she always went back to fetch them later, no matter how dangerous it was. Yet despite that she had lost many of them - the original set consisted of thirteen, and she regretted each loss.

Sarah gingerly sat down, wincing at the growing pain. She really should do something about that gravel rash up the back of her thigh from sliding along the ground. In fact her whole body felt weary and all she wanted to do was to... fall... off... to... "Oh, no you don't" said Johnny sharply with an amused glint in his eyes as he shook her. "Don't you dare fall asleep yet."

Sarah took a half-hearted swing at him. "Leave me alone."

Johnny ignored her and pulled her up standing, wincing mentally as she instantly put a hand to her lower back. "You really killed you butt didn't you girl," he said sympathetically, "but that still doesn't excuse you from trying to go to sleep dirty and bloody."

Sarah glared at him with her brown eyes. "You are like an annoying brother who just won't quit."

Johnny grinned at her annoyance, "and I'm going to play the protective bother too, little sister. Come on, let's get you cleaned up and fed, then I'll put you to bed."

"I hate you." Sarah was too tired to hit him, least of all think of a decent comeback.

"Ohhh, I'm hurt" he mocked and dragged her over to the wash basins. The murky water didn't make her feel any better - there was rarely clean water around, most of the time that water was used over and over again. It might start out as bathing water, and then clothes washing water, then dishwashing water... sometimes you even had to drink it. Rain always brought a bit of a cheer, even now the rain catches (well really they were only buckets) placed around the city were filling up with fresh, clean water that would go towards drinking before anything else. Summer always brought on harsher times when drinking water was the only fresh water and salt water from the sea did for everything else. Occasionally they brought the sea water in for bathing anyway because the salt would cleanse any wounds and help it heal - that didn't stop the fact that it fucking hurt. Sarah was thankful that it wasn't salt water tonight, further inspection of the gravel rash revealed that it continued down to her calf as well. It was an ugly sight and trying to get bits of rock out of her skin was painful enough.

Having been washed and once Johnny has sat her down and watched her eat something Sarah moved her tired legs towards a spare space on the floor. Johnny grabbed an almost non-existent pillow and eased Sarah's head back onto it. "Get some sleep Sarah, I'll go to the meeting."

Sarah could only manage a nod before she drifted off into a restless sleep, dreams full of long winding corridors, deep caverns, little creatures that ran about in front of her and a man with long blond hair whose eyes followed her.

Johnny laid a blanket over Sarah's body and heard her whisper a single name. Thinking nothing more of it, many whispered names of lost loved ones while they slept, he turned and left Sarah to her dreams.

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Toby ducked and weaved through the fighting and bloodshed that was going on about him. Being twelve, nearly thirteen, and puberty not yet lending him his growth spurt, his height allowed him an advantage in avoiding most of the fighting. Truth be told he preferred this battling between man and man rather than the slaughter of freedom fighters by Force Groups. At least each side had a fair chance of winning.

In the early hours of the morning with dawn having just been, just off the coast of New South Wales, Australia, the oceanic tribes of Albatross and Black Pearl were engaged in open warfare with each other. Here, in the vast sea, there was no worry about Force Groups suddenly dropping out of nowhere; the Superiors avoided it like the plague for unknown reasons.

It was glaring obviously from the beginning the Superiors would not venture out in the sea. Their power spread with the speed of light fading into darkness across the land but they never touched the ocean. As a result however they secured any habour, portable cove and landable shore within their grasp so that those of the waves could not come upon land.

Toby didn't exactly remember the day when his parents decided that braving the pirates of the sea was a better option than facing Force Groups. He did remember the day his father was killed by a rival ocean tribe. The Albatross tribe had come upon the relatively gentle tribe of Dawn, which had picked up the small family and taken them in as their own. His father had been sliced across the stomach protecting the Dawn's ships being taken over, his gut dropping to the deck before the body followed. Once the captain of the Albatross had secured his victory, taken the surviving ship and all remaining supplies for his own he saw Toby's mother and wanted her on sight. That she had a little boy with her allowed the captain to bind her more tightly to him through threats to his safety, and later because of a surprising father/son bond that had formed. Toby had always attributed the bond due to the fact that his intelligence was off the scales and he could hold conversation like that of an adult fives times his age. Any time the Albatross had attacked another tribe the captain had always made sure that any books were saved so that Toby's thirst for knowledge could be sated for a time.

So it was that Toby was now racing towards Captain Jim, surrogate father and teacher, while he fought against the infamous Captain Cagan of the Black Pearl. Whichever captain lived at the end of the battle would gain control of the leftovers - that was the way of the sea. A large kitchen knife slashing out in front of him caused Toby to slide as he tried to stop short along the bloody deck. His attackers slumped down behind him and Toby saw the first mate Rick flash him a grin as he yanked the long blade free of the body. "Watch yourself boy, the sea's a little rough today." Toby would have laughed if had the time, but he scrambled to his feet and skid around another pair fighting.

A stranger was knocked into him and the both got slammed against the railing. Acting instinctively Toby made the first move, pulling the knife from a scabbard around his ankle and sliced the man's throat open before he had a chance to get his bearings. Hot blood splurged from the wound and Toby gave a quick nod to the crewmember who saluted him in thanks before returning to his own fight.

Ignoring the bruises forming on his back Toby made the final dash to the captains fighting near the helm of the ship. Several more times he had to stab and slice at enemy people in his way but he finally got there. Toby didn't have strength but he did have speed.

Captain Cagan was clearly the better fighter but Captain Jim was holding his own. Barely. Neither could get enough distance between the two so that they could pull a gun so they slashed at each other and hit solidly with bare fists. _Thunk._ Flesh slamming flesh. _Thunk. _However, the captain of the Albatross sea clan was taking the brunt of the fight and in a few minutes wouldn't be able to defend quick enough to save his life.

Toby whipped up his head as he heard a female scream. His eyes quickly tracked the sound and saw the blond hair of his mother tugging with the wind as a Black Pearl crew member carried to back their boat. Ignoring the burning churning in his stomach from knowing Karen was in trouble and her impending rape he turned back to the enemy. If he went after his mother, her, the captain and himself could all get killed; making sure the captain stayed alive would improve the chances of Karen coming out of this alive if not completely unharmed.

Facing the two captains again Toby instantly saw the unstoppable death. Captain Jim had also heard Karen scream and his moment of distraction gave the Black Pearl captain the chance he had been waiting for. He lunged forward stabbing a jagged knife into Jim's stomach, twisted around dragging the knife through the flesh as he moved to push another knife strongly and surely into Jim's back, inbetween the ribs to pierce the heart. Cagan ripped the blades from the body and watched victoriously as the body slumped to the ground. Pulling a gun, he took a moment to aim it and then pulled the trigger. The battle ended with a captain's death.

Toby screamed. Lunged forward with hate and latched onto Cagan's back. Again and again he stabbed his knife into his back, a beautifully crafted weapon given to him by Jim for his tenth birthday. Cagan swung around to try to dislodge the little devil on his back. Toby kept stabbing. Cagan dropped to his knees. Toby started slicing through the skin, tearing material and skin alike into strips. Cagan dropped to his chest. Toby reached blindly into the bloody mess and wrenched the heart out with emotional strength, his hands still small enough to fit inbetween ribs, and threw it to the deck and stabbed into it repeatedly. Again and again.

A large hand touched his shoulder and he swung around. Rick caught the boy's wrist before the knife touched him. "It's alright lad, it's over." Toby panted heavily and slowly Rick's words sunk in. He let the knife clatter to the deck and stumbled back from the mangled body of Captain Cagan. A massacre masterpiece of his rage.

Rick helped Toby to his feet. All around there was silence, overwhelming because the recent clamor. Toby didn't seem to notice as he gasped his mother's name and raced towards the boat flanked the port side of the boat. Everyone watched as the boy used the rope joining the two ships to swing between them and land on the other ship's deck. Seeing the blond hair he dropped to his knees beside his mother, smoothing back the blood sticky strands. "Mother? Can you hear me? Are you ok?"

Karen's eyes fluttered open and winced in the bright light of the new day. "Toby?" she whispered and weakly tried to raise a hand to him.

Toby grabbed her hand and brought it to his face. "It's over mother. Cagan killed Jim, but I killed Cagan. It's all over."

Karen suddenly coughed violently; blood watered down by saliva dribbled from her mouth. "Jim would… Jim would want his brother to know. Go to Seattle, find Mac… Mac Adams-" she burst into another coughing fit.

"Don't talk. We're going to get you fixed up."

Karen shook her head. "No. Too late for me. Find Mac."

Toby looked over Karen's body and saw for the first time the dark red wet material covering her midsection. Carefully and as gently as he could he peeled back the shirt and sucked in his breath as the stab wound. Direct hit to the kidneys, especially painful, particularly deadly. He leaned over his mother and kissed her forehead. "Rest peacefully mother." With one quick wrench Toby killed his mother by snapping her neck. "I will honour your last wish."

Toby stood up and faced Rick who had followed him. Rick felt sorry for the young boy, wanted to offer him comfort but if Toby was to fulfill his new role then he would have to be seen as hard and emotionless. Tough. "What are your orders Captain Toby?"

Toby raised an eyebrow. Of course. He had killed the reigning captain. He was now the new captain of all those left, all of what was left. He almost laughed; a twelve year old as captain over a fleet of seven ships and overseer of more than a hundred people. That he could do it he had no doubt, his exceptional intelligence assured that. He had helped Captain Jim with the organisation of the Albatross clan to keep boredom at bay. He knew he had Rick's full support and loyalty and anyone who thought that the young boy could not handle the position of captain would soon find otherwise. "Get rid of the rest of the dead. Kill anyone who doesn't want to give his or her loyalty. Assess the condition of the ships. And find the one who did this to my mother."

"Aye captain" Rick replied and turned to relay the orders. Toby made his way back the Albatross and headed under the deck to collect the one thing that he wasn't going to let any cabin boy touch when moving his belongings to the captain's quarters. Reaching his bunk he grabbed the pillow and stripped the cover off and shook it until it gave up its prize. Toby caught the paper fluttering out before it hit the ground and looked at the photograph worn and torn from years of handling. It showed a teenage girl on the verge of womanhood, her potential for true beauty in the abundance of dark hair, the unblemished white skin and the sparkle of pure joy in her brown eyes. Sarah, his guardian angel. The sister he apparently had once, whom his mother had told many stories of always with a tint of sadness and regret in her eyes. Most likely dead from the primary wars with the Superiors. Whoever she was and whatever had become of her Toby knew one thing that defied the logic of the books he read and the life he lived - he worshipped Sarah like a goddess and never had she let him down. She had kept him alive this day and given him control of a fleet. He would go to America, the place of his birth, find Mac Adams and then, Sarah willing, he would conquer the oceanic world.


	2. Ch2: Strange happenings

Chapter 2: Strange Happenings

Johnny crowded in around the main table and rubbed his eyes, willing the haze of sleep to go away before it consumed him. The meeting had gone on for over an hour, discussing varying tactics, problems concerning protection, ammunitions, weapons, food and general basic needs. He looked up as Mac cracked his neck to relive some tension and noticed that Melinda wasn't back yet. It wasn't unusual if she was somehow delayed by one of the Superior's force groups, but still…

"Mac? Where's Melinda?"

Mac cracked the other side of his neck. "She's out supervising some of the pack who went on scavenger duty. She shouldn't be much longer." He cracked his knuckles.

Johnny nodded. Of course, Mac would be the first to worry, especially if anything was wrong. Johnny cast a look over the cavernous room to his own "twin", checking to make sure Sarah was still resting quietly. She lay sprawled on the ground beneath the blanket; one arm tossed above her head and curled protectively against her body, the hand peaking out wrapped around a knife. Johnny might have rolled his eyes at the sight if he didn't sleep with a weapon as well. Standard practice.

"Mommy! Mommy!" a little girl yelled and launched herself at Linda, one of the team leaders for the Heart squad, who caught her easily and hoisted her up on her hip. Her pale blond pigtails swung frantically as she tried to bounce up and down. "Mommy, where's daddy?"

Linda tried to give her five-year-old daughter a stern look but the twinkle in her eyes gave her away. "Tasha, honey, you know you're not meant to disturb me when I'm in a meeting. And your dad is getting some rest so I don't want you to disturb him either.

Tasha dropped her bottom lip. "But mummy, I drew a piccie and me want to show daddy!"

"And _I_ want to show daddy, poppet," Mac corrected and ran a fond hand over the silky hair.

Tasha rolled her eyes and tried to duck out from under his hand. "Mac! Don't mess up my hair."

Mac and Johnny chuckled and shared a look In the middle of war and females were still the same.

Tim a teenage boy jogged up to them with a look somewhere between reproach and apology. "I'm sorry team leaders but it seems that _someone_ has a problem with obeying orders" he said throwing a look at Tasha who poked her tongue out at him, then hid her head in the crook of her mother's neck.

"It's ok Tim" Mac said putting a hand on the boy's shoulder, "It's a big responsibility to look after the kids, we can't expect you to keep an eye on all of them all the time."

Tim gave a look of horror more suited to facing the Superiors. "It's no problem sir, nothing I can't handle." He shot another look at Tasha who was peeking out at him; "I just have to get some rope so I can tie up some problems."

Linda squished down a smile and pulled Tasha out of her hiding place to look firmly at her. "Tasha, honey, you have to listen to Tim. When I'm not around he's in charge." She said sternly but gently. She put her child on the ground where Tasha squirmed now having to face Tim on her own. "I want you to apologise to Tim" Linda said.

Tasha remained stubbornly silent for a moment before recognising that she wasn't going to get out of it. Her parents she could twist around her little finger but Mac she couldn't. Having his disapproval and disappointment was bad. Having Mac unhappy with her meant that Melinda would be unhappy with her and having Melinda unhappy with her meant that Sarah would be unhappy with her and that was the worse. No Sarah meant no stories. "Sorry Tim" she mumbled.

"Good girl" Mac praised and Linda kissed her on the head.

Tim sighed. "Come on brat, let's get you back with the others."

Tasha took a wide swing at him, missed and squealed, quickly running away as Tim took chase grinning back at the others over his shoulder.

The three team leaders watched until they were out of sight. "One day that boy will make a great team leader:" Mac commented.

"I heard Harold caught him trying to sneak aboveground with some of his teams." Johnny said absently.

Mac chuckled, "Like I said, he'll make a great team leader."

"Mac!" All heads turned as a female voice rose from across the main area of the base. Johnny saw Mac look around expectantly and the voice yelled out again. The owner of the voice shot out from the crowd, it wasn't Melinda but some girl with short black hair. Her feet and legs were soaked from running along the flooded sewer tunnels "Mac, there's trouble in the middle zone. Everyone's surrounded by force groups. My partner…" she bit her lips for a second, pain flashing across her eyes, "My partner is gone. We need help."

Mac yelled out for the rest of his squad as he grabbed his gun. "Wanna give us a hand Johnny?"

Johnny nodded and roused his own squad, nothing like killing off the enemy to get rid of sleepiness. He gave a thought to waking Sarah but after looking at her decided against it. She was so exhausted that even the present noise hadn't triggered her usually excellent alarm system. She had been working herself into overdrive lately and needed to slow down, she would probably yell at him later when she found out, but shit happened. Grabbing his own weapon, parts of squads Spades and Diamonds headed towards the east middle zone area. Mac divided them up into groups of four to sweep each street block by block, working outwards. Mac and Johnny were the only pair and covered the more dangerous up-front middle blocks.

Like ants they crawled from the sewers out into a war zone. Shots rang out and splashing could be heard as feet ran through the remains of the earlier rain. The freedom fighters moved from street to street - shooting, ducking and weaving.

Johnny ran hard down a street and stumbled upon a couple of force group guards with their backs to him firing the other way. Their mistake. Slipping one serrated knife from the band around his waist, he flipped it blade first into his palm. With precision and instinct he hefted it spinning through the air. Just as it hit its target, silently piecing the throat of one person Johnny had a drawn his handgun and fired three times into the back of the other around the heart area. Jogging up to the fallen men he knelt beside them checking for life. He snapped the neck of the first just in case he didn't hit the heart to kill him, and snapped the neck of the second so that he couldn't survive to claim revenge for the damaging wound, if he managed to survive.

Closing in on the corner to the street to sweep around the block he saw some of Mac's missing people skid around the side of the building, bullets flying after them. One of them cried out and fell to the ground clutching his leg. "Keep going!" Johnny yelled at the other as they saw their friend fall, "Keep going!" They obeyed him and sprinted past as he ran up to the fallen man with his automatic at the ready. Just as he approached the corner a force group guard rounded the corner. Johnny acted quickly bringing the butt of his gun up to crush into the man's jaw and then across his head to knock him unconscious.

A viscous blow to the chest winded him and knocked him backwards and he gave a passing thought to the possibility of cracked ribs. The side of the firearms held by a second force group guard knocked painfully against his jaw instantly splitting open his lip. A shout rang loudly nearby and his attacker fell to the ground dead.

Mac lowered his gun and helped Johnny up to his feet before checking on the shot man. "Are you ok Jamie?"

Jamie grimaced as he was helped up, keeping the weight off his foot and leaned on Mac. "There's closing in from the right side Mac."

"I know. I was right behind you picking off the first lot coming in."

Johnny breathed to clear the dizziness from his head. "I sent some of your people back down the street." Yelling and gunfire suddenly came from back down behind them. Johnny, Mac and Jamie stared for a moment as Mac's people came running back down accompanied by some of Johnny's people.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Mac roared.

"Freedom fighters" yelled Peta in explanation and they all fell to the ground as a fresh round of bullets was sprayed down the streets. Glass shattered and ammunition ricocheted above their heads.

Johnny cursed as his head pounded and he heard Jamie yelp in pain. As soon as it cleared they all scrambled up and rounded the corner to the left. Halfway down they ran into Melinda and more of the Spades and Diamonds teams.

"Turn back" Mac panted.

Melinda shook her head. "They're coming from this way."

"We can't go back. There're groups on all sides" Johnny gasped, his head pounding.

A stack of other freedom fighters who were sprinting from force groups came up to them. Johnny coming to the shocking realisation '_They're rounding us up'_ he thought, '_like cattle, they're caging us in!_' "Mac! It a trap" he yelled but it was too late and his voice was cut off by the sound of a helicopter rising overhead. Past Mac he could see force groups racing towards then from the front. Johnny spun around to look behind and saw more force groups blocking his way out.

A strange feeling passed through Johnny - so it was his turn to die, so be it. He raised his gun fully intending to take out as many force group people as possible before they shot him down. Yet it seemed even that was denied to him as the force groups had already pulled their triggers and shots rang out in the night air, bullets racing towards their targets… only to be stopped in mid air and bounced harmlessly to the ground. The bullets continued to come from both sides until everyone realized that no one was being hit and a circle of bullets were forming around the caged in freedom fighters.

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A bubble floated gently against the natural flow of the breeze and barely missed the swaying grass that could damage it so easily. It bobbed up and down and darted around a large rock before coming to the edge of the cliff. It hung there for a moment as if admiring the scenery before tumbling down the vertical rock face to the vale below.

The valley was bathed in sunlight by the midday sun and the rippling water of the lake sparkled with silvery glitter in reflection of the warm light. Drooping willow trees lined the bank in lazy abandonment, dipping their branches into the water to tangle with green reeds. A figure glided swiftly through the deep water but he was a welcomed visitor rather than an intruder in this small patch of paradise. Strong legs carried him from the embankment to dry land, the water streaming off his body, trailing down inbetween the muscles lining his naked flesh. He flicked his dark hair back from his face and reached for his pants tossed carelessly on a nearby branch.

The bubble floated up to him and rose to hover at eye level with the man. The man gave it a cursory glance before turning away to retrieve the boiling pot from the small fire burning merrily away. He set it to one side then dipped a mug into the soup mixture bringing the sweet smelling liquid to his mouth. The bubble hung where it was for a moment then swiftly and angrily moved over to stand in front of the man again.

He sighed and said; "Can't I even have lunch without being bothered?" The bubble took a jump towards him, then back to where it was. The man gave a low chuckle, "I suppose not then." He held out a hand palm up and the bubble drifted down to rest lightly on his skin. It gave a soft pop and transformed into a rolled up scroll. He set his mug to one side and untied the ribbon and flattened out the letter on his thigh. Scanning through it he muttered to himself "bloody hell" and threw the contents of his mug out onto the grass. It took him mere minutes to pack all his gear and dress himself; finally cloaking himself in a full-length black cloak with a hood that pulled low over his head to hide his facial features.

He gave a loud whistle that slightly disturbed the tranquility of his surroundings and echoed softly in the air. Seconds later a massive black stallion galloped towards him at full speed and upon reaching him reared up on hind legs in a show of powerful strength. The man's lips gave a mocking twitch, "You can blame his Majesty for disturbing your time off, Hawk. It seems we've been summoned." Hawk pawed at the ground and tossed his head. The man in black attached his belongings to the horse with a quick manipulation of magick and answered, "Well don't think I'm going to complain on your behalf, if you want to anger Jareth you can do it all on your own." Hawk whinnied. "That's what I thought" the man replied cheerfully.

Leaping up easily onto Hawk's bare back the man set him off at a gallop, running full tilt towards the edge of the valley and toward an almost ninety degrees rise out of it. Hawk's strong legs swiftly carried them up and out the steep rise without an effort.

An hour later Hawk and the man were riding at a swift trot through the forest. Hawk snickered and tossed his head violently and the man nods, "Don't worry; we'll get away from this smell quick enough." The bog of eternal stench gulped to the right of them. The man shuddered, years of seeing the worst battlefields that both the Underground and Aboveworld had to offer - smelling the blood, burning flesh, the disease... death - and yet only the labyrinth's bog had the ability to make his stomach churn in sickening waves.

They approached a bridge, relatively new, crossing the BOES on the road to the castle. Apparently it had had to be rebuilt just over a decade ago when travellers crossed over it and the previous fragile bridge broke. This one would see out the next millennium being made of great big rocks seamlessly put together. At the foot of the bridge the man slid down off his horse and cautiously approached the trees lining the bank. A loud voice suddenly commanded "Halt stranger and identify thyself!"

The man chuckled. "Ah, I'm afraid I cannot disclose my identity then sir knight, for I am no stranger and am well known to thee."

Fox-like features peered out at the man from behind a tree, and small shiny eyes took in the man in black and his equally dark horse. Upon recognising the man Sir Didymus fully appeared and nodded a greeting. "My lord, I did not recognise thee. Welcome to my humble abode."

The man smiled, "I am honoured sir knight." The BOES let out a particularly foul smell and the man cringed. "Truly Didymus, I cannot understand how you cannot smell that awful stench."

"What stench?"

"You really can't smell that?"

The fox lifted his head sharply; "My sense of smell is impeccable."

The man wisely kept his mouth shut. It was better to keep quiet about some things.

"What brings you this way my lord?" Sir Didymus asked.

The man leaned against his horse lazily and crossed his arms. "His highness demands our presence. I think the only reason why he didn't send you a personal invitation was because he knows I hate this place and wanted to put me through hell." He tossed his head back, "As if I haven't been through it already."

"Events are moving forward then," mused Sir Didymus, "I do not know if this bodes ill or well. Ambrosias! Where are you, come out of hiding this instant."

The man chuckled at the whine which came from the bushes in answer to the fox's call. "Knowing Jareth it's probably good for him and bad for the rest of us."

Ambrosias, shaggy and small crept out from under the leaves and reluctantly trotted over to Sir Didymus. With a small grunt the fox swung a leg over his steed's back and settled himself into the saddle, then proceeded to 'gee-up' the dog to scamper over the bridge. The man in black followed him on foot, leading Hawk carefully over the cobbled stones.

"I can't help but think that this isn't going to be good," the man said to Sir Didymus, "Why would Jareth send for two such as us? We're so different from each other in values, let alone everything else."

"Perhaps not so different my lord. I would nay have thought that I would ever associate with a rouge like yourself. Your trade has no honour, yet I would still call you friend any day," commented Sir Didymus

"And I cannot see how you live by a code of honour that limits your life so much, yet your company is amongst the first I seek. There are strange happenings in this day and age Sir Didymus. Old alliances are destroyed and new and unusual ones are formed" replied the man in black.

Sir Didymus nodded sagely in agreement. It didn't take them long to arrive at the imposing castle that had been seen in the distance for some time now. Ambrosias faltered at the outer wall and the man refrained from laughing as Sir Didymus kicked up his heels shouting, "Come on Ambrosias! His majesty is not going to threaten to throw you in the Bog. Just don't piddle on his floor again!"

At the main doors to the castle two goblins that were making horrible grunting and snorting noises were standing guard.

"The king has sent for us," Sir Didymus announced proudly and puffed out his chest

"Yer majesty is busy a' tha moment," one goblin said and spat on the ground.

The man leaned back against his horse, prepared to wait. "I swear Hawk, we can't win either way. Get here as fast as I can and he's not here, but if I had taken my time you can bet that he would have been here and threatening to toss us into the bog for being late." Hawk snorted and shook his head in agreement.


	3. Ch3: Friend from foe, black and white

Chapter 3: To Know Friend From Foe Isn't As Easy As Black And White

_ 'What the hell?'_ thought Johnny and walked cautiously over to the scattered bullets. Friend and foe alike watched him as he approached the ammunition. Crouching down he picked up one of the closest bullets and studied it as if it would reveal what strange phenomena had just occurred. He threw the bullet away and it clanged softly to the side of him. Johnny reached for one of the bullets further away from him and smacked into something.

He frowned and reached out again slowly. Sure enough there was some kind of invisible wall blocking his way. He felt his way up as he stood and felt as though he was a mime. Feeling gamer he hit the invisible wall. He kicked it. There was definitely something there and as much as it wasn't letting anything thing in, it wasn't letting anything out either.

A male from a force group edged his way forwards and stood directly in front of Johnny and held up the butt of his gun. Johnny tensed and hoped the wall thing stayed in place. The end of the gun came fast and hard towards Johnny and he flinched even as the gun hit the wall causing its owner to stagger back. The spell of surprise broke and people from both sides approached the wall. It was strange that one could stand so close to the enemy and yet not harm them in any way.

Johnny sucked thoughtfully on his split lip, his tongue sliding over the metallic tasting blood and stemming the slight flow. Was this some new technology of the Superiors? The freedom fighters were well and truly trapped inside the wall - even from above he realised as he watched Mac throw bits of brick up in the air only to have then bounce off the invisible ceiling. But the force groups seem to be just as confused as the freedom fighters. In the back of his mind Johnny realised that the helicopters no longer sounded in the air. In fact, if he didn't know better he would say that beyond the street there was no life whatsoever, the lack of gunfire was strangely eerie.

"I do believe that's enough playtime for one day children" came a cultured voice loud and clear over the curious mutterings.

Everyone turned to face the man who leaned calmly against a wall watching them with amusement written all over his face and gleaming in his eyes. Clothed purely in black he seemed to be a part of the night or rather perhaps the night was a part of him for he raised an air of power that pulsated around him. Blond hair cascaded around his face and mismatched eyes glimmered back at them, like the moon and animal eyes reflecting at night

Freedom fighters and force groups raised weapons at the man who merely chuckled and smirked as if trying to hold in great bouts of laughter he was dying to let out. "Now, now" he mocked, "play nice."

Johnny quickly let go of his weapon as it squirmed and wriggled in his hands. It dropped to the ground and he jumped away as the gun-turned-snake slithered away from him, black and red scales shimmering in the moonlight. Johnny backed away towards the middle of the bullet ring and found other freedom fighters doing the same as their guns also turned into snakes and crawled away. The force groups weren't so lucky.

The snakes, both from the freedom fighter's gun and from their own, crawled towards them, hissed and struck out with lightning speed. The invisible wall hadn't stopped them in the least. The force groups fell back, scrambling over one another to get away from the poisonous reptiles. Johnny watched in horror as one woman spasmed uncontrollable while a snake ate her. As the snake ate it seemed to grow bigger as did the ones around it. By the time they slithered off in pursuit of the ones that got away the snakes were half as high as Johnny himself and he guessed at over 20 meters long. He shuddered and hoped they didn't come back. He heard screaming in the streets beyond. When they got back to base they would have to put a warning out to everyone to watch for monstrous snakes which were formally guns. Yeah. There was something wrong with that there.

The freedom fighters watched in fascinated terror before turning to face the man - no! Johnny was sure that whatever this person was he wasn't human - this _being_, wondering what he had in store for them. There was no doubt in their minds that he was responsible for what was happening - 'how?' was an entirely different matter. The snakes were deadly but this guy had made them…

The being pushed himself away from the wall and cast an eye over them as if searching. Johnny figured he either found what he was looking for or gave up because he approached the group and tersely demanded who was in charge. Josie, one of Mac and Melinda's team, stepped forward - this was a ploy they often used, someone posing as their leader so that if they were killed the real leaders would still be there to direct things.

The being sneered at Josie and the girl took an instinctive step back but was unable to move quick enough to avoid him grabbing her wrist and shoving her violently to the ground. "Don't test my patience, either show me your true leader or I can bring back your enemies just as quickly as I chased them away."

Johnny reached discretely behind for the knife in his waistline and felt the empty spot before realised that he probably used them all in the fight. He'd have to go back for them later. He reached for one of his spare hip knives and frowned at the missing weapon. He felt for the other one. It was gone too. He shared a look with Mac and knew that he had no weapons either. They were basically defenseless - not a good thing. Johnny also had the suspicion that even if they were to try to take out the guy with their bare hands, and despite the fact that they outnumbered him twenty odd to one, they blond guy would come out on top. Call it an instinct.

Melinda stepped forward, placing herself inbetween Josie and the strange male. "I'm the leader."

Johnny watched the being looked at Melinda then flickered his eyes to Mac and then to Johnny himself. Somehow…_ somehow_ this guy knew there was more than one leader and exactly who they were, yet he seemed content enough with one of them for the time as he smiled chillingly and said, "yes, I suppose you'll do."

"What's that meant to mean?" bit off Melinda.

The man ignored her outburst but continued on. "It seems you have a slight problem. Not only will it prove difficult for you to return to your home base but also before long this entire city and those in it will be under the control of those whom you call the Superiors." He hissed the last word with as much contempt as any of the freedom fighters would have. "I am willing to help, within reason, to get you back to your base and to help drive your enemies away and possibly defeat them."

"What makes you think we could use your help" Melinda demanded defensively, born of the kind of pride developed by one who lived on the streets. We've survived this long on your own, who says you need anyone's help now.

The man raised an eyebrow mockingly, which clearly spoke volumes about what he had already done for them. His manner replied that he was humouring them as he raised one hand and twisted his wrist slightly. A perfect bubble spun out of thin air, luminous and captivating. Strangely enough there seemed to be a soft tune on the wind, barely discernable but the bubble spun in dance to it.

_Long for the sailor beneath the skies_

_Long for the white dove no matter where she flies_

_Long for the stranger you know so well, so well_

The spherical wonder floated up and over the heads of the freedom fighters and the words of the tune could now just be heard, a whisper of song which all strained to hear.

_Pray for the solider that's wounded bad_

_Pray for the dreamer, he's still so sad_

_Pray for the stranger you know so well_

The singing was like a dream. There, but so soft, so musical, so gentle that they seemed to be in that space just beyond waking, that moment when you can be convinced that the marvels of the dreamworld are still real in the conscious world. The bubble drifted down on the notes and towards Jamie who was leaning heavily against a friend to keep the weight off his injured leg. With held breath the freedom fighters watched it hover above his head, silence but for the haunting tune on the breeze.

_Long for the eagle on wings so strong_

_Long for the hunter he won't be long_

_Long for the stranger you know so well*_

The bubble shattered with the song, and the silence that followed was almost nauseous. Jamie gasped as the sparkling ashes fell around him and sent a tingle through his body. He clutched at his leg for a moment, as it burned unbearably then cooled. He ran his hands over his legs, and then to double check he rolled the pants up and looked disbelieving at the smooth uninjured flesh. He stared at Jareth who smirked and opened his fist to let the bullet slip from his grasp to bounce and clatter to the ground.

Melinda stared hard at the being trying to sort out all types of questions cluttering her mind but one blurted from her mouth, "what's the price?"

He turned the full force of his mismatched eyes on her and gave a truly malicious smile that sent shivers running up and down her spine. "For now, there is only one thing that I want…"

JS JS JS JS JS JS

The freedom fighter screamed as a woman sent another bout of electricity through his body, his feet in the water acting as the conductor. Two force group men stood to the side. "Sturdy bastards, I think he's been going for four days now" one commented to the other.

"He was bloody difficult to capture too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he took down four of our guys before six of us piled on top of him."

"Why didn't you just kill him?"

"The new Boss wanted one of them captured for questioning. Seems they're as hard to get answers out of as they are to capture alive."

They both fell silent as the freedom fight screamed again. Bill turned to Bob once more. "Why exactly do we need to question one of the them? Isn't it there in that damn handbook 'kill all opposition to the Superiors' or something like that?"

Bob shrugged noncommittally. "The new Boss said the old Boss was taken off the job because he wasn't getting rid of the resistance groups. The new Boss also said that we needed new tactics to deal with the resistance groups and this" the man screamed again, "is one of them."

"The new Boss says a lot" muttered Bill.

Bob looked at Bill "Have you meet the new Boss?"

Bill shook his head.

"The guy is positively scary. If you had met him you would be taking note of what he's saying as well."

The female interrogator put the electrodes to the side and checked on her subject. Felt the strength of the pulse and listened to his breathing to make sure he wasn't too damaged. She smoothed back the sweat-soaked hair in a motherly way and reached for a cup of water. "Would you like to have something to drink Daniel?" she asked softly, gently.

The freedom fighter gave a barely discernable move of his head, indistingable as to whether it was a nod or a shake.

"Daniel, if you want a drink you have to answer me. Would you like to have something to drink Daniel?"

"Yes" the answer was a bare whisper with no sound to it beyond the rasping of this throat.

"Good boy" the woman praised and then helped him to sip from the cup, slowly and in small doses so that he wouldn't choke or have any ill effects after his days of dehydration. "Daniel, are you going to tell me where the others are, the others like you? The freedom fighters?"

Bill gave a snort of laughter and received a sharp glare from the woman

Daniel shook his had in a very definite no, violently moving his head despite the fatigue and dizziness beating at him.

The woman sighed. "Daniel… why won't you tell me. I, who have stopped the pain. I, who have given you water. I, who even now protects you from your enemies. What have your so-called friends done for you? They have left you to your enemies; they have not even tried to rescue you. They leave you in pain and agony. I can stop that; I can stop all the hurting if only you will tell me. Trust me.

Daniel tried to speak, used a tongue like sandpaper to wet his cracked lips. The woman let him sip from the cup again, and when he tried again a thread of a sound come out.

The door to the room pushed open and a man walked into the room… more than walked. He seemed to glide along the ground; his footsteps making no noise, his movements sleek and smooth. He wore a plain mask over his face and head so that only his eyes could be seen and they were dark emotionless orbs that were reminiscent of a black hole - destructive and inescapable. The only weapon noticeable on his body was the whip largely looped hanging from his belt.

The door swung softly shut behind him and when the two force group men went to salute him he waved them off before standing impassively by the wall, arms folded loosely. He would have seemed insolently casual if not for the aura of readiness, like a snake about to strike.

He nodded to the woman to continue.

"Daniel" she spoke gently to the broken man who had been unable to notice his grown audience, "tell me where they are."

Confused, drained and longing for a soft hand after an eternity of agony the freedom fighter rasped out the tunnels beneath the city. Outlined the sewer system and the labyrinth of passageways layered with traps and guards. Described how they survived, the crumbling freedom and the hierarchy of leadership.

As he whispered the names of the leaders there was something about the newcomer that listened more intently then before. He gave no body movement to indicate his sudden interest but it was there in the air just the same. In a low voice, a vibrating baritone, he asked for more information on Sarah Williams and Johnny Kell. Bill and Bob couldn't see the significance of determining the relationship between two freedom fighter leaders when they would just be killed anyway once the force groups used this information to raid the sewers. But they weren't about to say anything in front of the new Boss.

While Daniel neared the end of his information a loud banging on the door startled all but the Boss who simply turned and opened the door. A woman stumbled into the room, visibly shaking, and knelt in front of the Boss. "Forgive me my lord but something incredible has happened."

The Boss said nothing but indicated his head for her to continue.

"We had some of the resistance groups cornered and we were about to dispose of them, but when we shot at them they had some kind of forcefield shielding them from us. Some man was helping them, somehow controlling the forcefield. He had blond hair and there was something about him that was… different. I don't know how he did it but he made all our weapons turn into snakes. I'm not lying my lord, I swear that it's true. Many of us died trying to get away from them. They just kept getting larger and faster and only a few of us made it back to base. I don't know what happened to the resistance group." The woman fell silent, exhausted from escaping the snakes, and waited for her death at bringing bad news. The Boss would not be happy.

But the Boss simply excused her, not showing shock, anger or disbelief. The force group female blinked stunned for a second before scrambling to her feet and racing out of the room, not about to question why she wasn't dead.

The Boss ordered Bill and Bob to take care of the freedom fighter and then glided out of the room.

Bill said to Bob, "that guy gives me the creeps

"He gives everyone the creeps. They say the Superiors trained him themselves. Some even say that he used to be one of these guys" Bob nodded to the chained freedom fighter. "Kinda makes you think that things aren't as black and white as what they should be."

Bill shrugged. "Betcha he's grateful that he didn't end up like this guy."

Together they unchained the man, unconscious once again, and moved him out to be incinerated.

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The Boss glided along the long corridors contemplating all the information he had just received. He saw no use in killing the force group female for bringing him the bad news. There was no point in his people fearing to bring him information, all information was useful and needed to make an educated decision. If people feared to bring bad news then it was likely at some stage he would miss the information he needed most.

This coming night though he had all the information he needed to make the attack on the resistance group. This strange blond figure was a new and unexpected change but not so much that he still could not go ahead with his plans. The freedom fighters would die. All except the only one who managed to disrupt his logical thoughts. Sarah Williams. He had special plans for her.

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With Rick at the helm Toby stared out over the horizon and wondered if he should take down the corpse of the one who raped and stabbed his mother. When the midday and afternoon sun rose it would rise the stench to unbearable levels. After gutting and dismembering the man Toby had his headless body roped to the front of the boat so that they smell of fresh blood would smother back across the deck.

What he really should be thinking about was the trip to Seattle. From the east coast of Australia they would have to travel down beneath New Zealand to catch the fast and dangerous waves to the bottom tip of South America and then follow the coastline right up to the top of the US to find Seattle. Crossing the bottom of the Pacific Ocean near Antarctica would be cold but not unbearable, it was the waves and the currents that were the worst worry. Both were strong and destructive. Another worry would be travelling the coast of America. They couldn't get too close to land for fear of being detected by force groups and attacked. The last safe stop would be Talara in Peru where they would have to pick up supplies, providing that it was still safe when they got there. The whole trip would take two months at best. At least by the time they landed near Seattle he would have the loyalty of all those with him. Two months should be plenty of time to weed out and kill those who would stand against him and for him to cement his leadership.

On second thoughts, Toby mused, he would leave the corpse hanging. The smell would serve as a memorable reminder to those who sought to betray him.

*Extracts from _Time has Come._ Copywrite J. Tempest (1986). From the CD _Europe Super Hits_.


	4. Ch4: The Deal

Chapter 4: The Deal

At the light touch on her arm Sarah bolted straight up out of sleep and swung out at her assailant. Her fist hit flesh with a resulting "oomph" from her attacker. The last remains of sleep quickly left her as she saw Johnny sprawled on the ground rubbing one side of his face. Instantly Sarah was contrite, while at the same time trying not to giggle. "I'm sorry Johnny, I didn't mean to hit you it was just -"

"Yeah, yeah, I know" cut in Johnny, "it was just reflexes." He grinned at her to show there were no hard feelings and gave her a hand up off the ground where she had been sleeping. She winced as her bruised tailbone made itself known.

Sarah grinned back at her partner before asking, "So what havoc has been wreaked in my absence?" Johnny's smile instantly dropped and Sarah felt a responding sinking feeling. Something bad had happened, something very bad. Sarah stared hard at Johnny but he refused eye contact. "What's happened?" she asked and really looked at him, "and what happened to your lip?"

Johnny sighed and ran his tongue reflectively over the injured flesh, "you better come over to the conference table. Everyone else is already there."

Sarah nodded and followed Johnny. Whatever the problem they would figure it out together. Every leader _was_ at the conference table, which although not unusual was not entirely the run of the mill either. Mac and Melinda were there, as well as Harold and Kate from the Clubs Squad, and Linda and Michael from the Hearts Squad.

Michael offered Sarah a seat and that tipped her off that something was going on. If that wasn't enough to warn her, everyone watching her was. Sarah wasn't about to put up with any bullshit anymore than the rest of them and made it known. "Tell me what's going on or I'm going straight back to my bit of ground and getting more sleep."

All the guys suddenly looked away and seemed to find some fascination with something around them. Kate moved in closer to Sarah and breathed in deeply as if to calm herself before speaking. "Sarah, do you know someone named Jareth?"

That name sent icy needles down her spine and right into her gut. Breathing suddenly seemed extremely difficult as her throat closed up. Somehow she was still sleeping and this was some weird, whacked-out dream.

"Sarah?" Kate pursued softly.

"Yes," she struggled out, "I know him." Sarah cleared her throat and though it hurt it did loosen up her the tightness making it easier to talk. "What about him?"

Melinda then took over and told of the encounter out in the streets - the invisible wall, the snakes, what was being offered. She gave a half smile when Sarah asked exactly the same question she has asked Jareth. 'What did he want in return?'

At that Mac actually got up and started pacing, Johnny stood a distance away as if he was about to walk off. Sarah gave them a glance then turned back to Melinda. "Well?"

Melinda averted her eyes. "He made his demands very specific and clear. You in his bed. For as long as you… have sex with him, he will give his help."

Everything in Sarah stopped dead. She didn't breath, didn't move, didn't think.

Kate touched her shoulder gently. Johnny made his thoughts known. "This is ridiculous. Sarah, forget about the whole thing. However bad things get, however badly we might need this guy's help we can survive without it. We've done so for years."

"And we're loosing" grated out Mac. "I hate this as much as you do, but we need help and whatever this Jareth person is he can give it to us." He gave a heavy sigh, "but you're right. What he's asked for… Sarah, you don't have to do this."

"He's fey" mumbled Sarah and looked up at Mac. "He has immense power and if he wanted to he could probably wipe the Superiors from the face of the earth. This _offer_" her voice held contempt, "is just another game to him. He's a master at manipulation and while I've no doubt he would help while I… while I amuse him, as soon as he's bored of me he'll toss me aside and leave the lot of us worst off than we are now."

"Then there's no point in taking up his offer in the first place then" pointed out Johnny, somewhat relived.

Sarah shook her head, her mind working even as her anger grew. "Jareth won't play by the rules if he can help it but he won't break them. If we can make a deal that suits us all and doesn't allow him leeway to twist his way out of it we might be able to gain something out of this."

"Sarah, you don't have to make yourself part of the pact" said Kate.

Sarah stood up. "Let's be optimistic," her tone of voice said otherwise. "When do we have to give Jareth our decision?"

"Now would be a perfect opportunity Sarah."

Sarah breath caught in her throat, no amount of time could ever erase that voice from her memory. Fighting terror and anger alike she turned to face the Goblin King.

Sarah suddenly felt 15 again, swept back in time and standing at the precise moment when the Goblin King had first appeared to her in all his power and glory. Then, as now, there were about to bargain for what each wanted. Only this time it concerned a whole lot more than a child.

Sarah was standing on the line between fear and fury and as she wasn't about to turn and run from her old foe so that only left one option. She fixed him with a stare that would make fire turn to ice. "You absolute bastard."

She felt Melinda tense beside her - the Diamond's leader had seen what Jareth could do first hand on just a whim and was understandable worried that Sarah would insult someone who obviously could kill them just as easily. But Sarah had a history with Jareth and unsettled scores, and if he was arsehole enough to suggest the deal he had then Sarah figured she had every right to call him all the names she knew.

Jareth on the other hand merely smiled and waited for Sarah to finish her tirade.

"Who gave you the right to step back into this world and annoy my life with your presence? And above all things to have the gall to even think of your proposition, if you can even call it that. I'm not some whore or piece of property you can negotiate a deal with. Go find some other mortal's life to mess in and leave mine alone. I don't need your help, I didn't ask for your help so turn yourself back into a bird and flap away." Sarah only stopped when she felt Johnny's hand lightly squeeze her arm in caution.

The narrowing of Jareth's eyes was the only warning.

Sarah felt Johnny's hand leave her arm the same split second she heard surprised screams from behind her. She spun around and felt the blood drain from her face and her heart rate race to impossible levels. Somehow the table had been flipped up onto its side and the four table legs bents inwards, ending in points which sunk deeply into Johnny's flesh, pinning him to the underside of the table. One in his right thigh, one in his stomach just above his left leg, another stabbed into his left shoulder and the last held his chest down. Blood had just begun to seep through his clothing and a shocked expression held his face frozen.

A sob threatened to tear through Sarah. She couldn't loose Johnny - couldn't! He was her closest friend, the closest thing she had to a brother. He was the one who backed her up, who saved her life on a regular basis, looked after her. She was close to hyperventilation and couldn't tear her eyes away from the horrific before her as she spoke to Jareth. "Stop this Jareth, let him go… please." Part of her was shocked at how quickly she resorted to begging but she would not loose Johnny, even if that meant pleading with the enemy.

Jareth raised an eyebrow before making his way over to Sarah to stand behind her. "I don't believe he will last much longer Sarah. Those are fatal wounds and he's loosing a lot of blood."

Sarah stared at Johnny, only dimly aware that Jareth had pulled the hair away from her neck, running his fingers through it, yet utterly aware of his words. "I want to hear you say that you'll consider my offer." The fingers in her hair tightened their grip. "He's dying Sarah. Don't make me wait for an answer or it may be too late."

"Yes, god damn you," she sobbed out. This wasn't how it was meant to be. Jareth wasn't meant to be so cruel, so heartless. She was meant to be able to stand up against him against any odds. The fates had somehow got it wrong and screwed everything up.

"Good girl" whispered Jareth and kissed her just below the ear; Sarah shivered from the fleeting touch. The table legs removed themselves from Johnny's body and he fell to the floor. Sarah struggled to get to him but Jareth grabbed her around the waist and held fast. Mac and Michael checked Johnny over before helping him up. There was no blood, no gaping holes in his flesh. "You see Sarah," said Jareth, "I get something I want then you get something you want."

Seeing that Johnny was a little shaky but otherwise unharmed Sarah stopped struggling and fell partially against Jareth. Too much had happened too soon and she felt so tired. She was so sick of fighting and at the moment fighting Jareth's hold on her seemed the smallest of battles.

Jareth breathed in the scent from her neck before resting his chin against her head. "Perhaps I should come back when you are in a more receptive mood before we discuss the details of our deal. Though I must insist that I have an answer by sunset, five days from now. And while you think about that, I also want you to think about this Sarah. Your friend was not harmed by any action of yours but because of his own. Keep that in mind while I'm away."

Sarah stumbled back a bit as Jareth suddenly vanished. She sank slowly to the floor wishing she could just curl up and die. What a hell of a night.

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Sir Didymus trotted next to his friend as they left the castle. The meeting with Jareth had been short and to the point. Unfortunately quick briefings didn't equate for safe, simple missions.

"'Tis times like these that I wish I were not of the honorable kind" Sir Didymus grumbled in one of his rare grumbling moments - he more liked to rant.

The man in black chuckled. "Come now my friend that is the last thing I expect to hear you say. Besides I would have thought that you would enjoy the target of your mission?"

Didymus huffed. "'Tis not the target, it is the way in which I am to make my entrance!"

This time the man did laugh. "I don't suppose you like to get wet, and poor Ambrosias even less."

The shaggy white dog whined as his name was mentioned and the man chuckled again.

"And what of you sir knight?" Sir Didymus questioned, "The danger that you ride into could end in your death or worse."

"Ha!" the man scorned arrogantly, "no torture could be worse than the BOES and Jareth threatens my life enough on a daily basis that I have no fear of that journey." '_But the fox is right' _he thought, _'I'm going into the heart of danger and I haven't been to the Aboveworld in such a long time.'_ He smiled sadly to himself._ 'Sarah, I hope you have the strength to take on Jareth. I hope I have the strength to see my mission through. If either of us fails the human world will fall to the Superiors and the Underground won't be far behind.'_

Three hours later the two riders reached the outer limits of the labyrinth, to the mist that separated the two worlds. The man slid down from his mount's back and took what he could carry with him. "Take care of yourself Hawk" he said rubbing a strong hand over the horse's neck, "run free until I have need of you again. Hawk lipped at his shoulder, whinnied, and then galloped off.

"Good luck, Sir Didymus" he said to his friend.

"And to you also, good sir" the fox bowed.

The man sighed and stepped forward into hell.

"Come on Ambrosias," Didymus demanded, "we may as well face our destiny head on. Tally ho!" The dog whimpered then ran towards the mist. Instantly the ground dropped out from below them and the temperature thundered down to freezing. They freefell for a moment then splashed into the cold open ocean.

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Thumping on his door snapped Toby from the world of _The Hobbit._

"Captain, Captain! First mate says to come quick."

Put instantly in a sour mood, Toby tried not to snap at the cabin boy when he wrenched his door open to the bright eyed kid. It had been five days since the battle with the Black Pearl and every moment had been spent watching his back from potential assassination. Five days of nothing but ocean in all directions as they sailed to America. "What is it?"

The kid cringed and took a step back. "S-s-sorry Captain. The first mate said to get-"

"Yes." Toby said sharply. "I heard that bit, quite loudly. Never mind" he forestalled the kid who had opened his mouth to speak again. "I'll find out for myself." Which really, Toby thought, he should have done in the first place rather than taking his mood out on the cabin boy. Knowing that Rick wouldn't disturb him unless it was something important, Toby stepped back into his cabin to grab his picture of Sarah. She would look over him through this.

The cabin boy trailed nervously behind Toby as he stalked up to the deck. What greeted him was not a surprise, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. For a moment a deep pang of grief wrapped and squeezed tightly in his chest; Jim would have been able to explain it to him. The dead captain had a way of explaining contradictory feelings that Toby would feel, ever since the first one when he found himself liking a man who killed his father. The man had just made sense.

Rick walked over and stood next to him. "I thought you would like to handle this yourself." he said quietly.

Toby nodded his thanks and instantly hardened his heart again. Another show to the Albatross tribe that he was their leader and should give him absolute loyalty… or die.

"Explain." he demanded. The man, bound in chains before him, was caught by the cook and cabin boy of the lead ship when he was adding poison to the main food supply. The bound man snarled at Toby and the Captain vaguely recalled his face.

"Bring out some of the food." Toby requested quietly.

The cook, or perhaps Rick, must have been anticipating such an order because Cook instantly dumped a barrel of poisoned apples in between Toby and the convicted man. Toby looked into the barrel. What a waste of good food. He picked out one apple and flipped out a sharp flick knife to slowly peel the fruit. He gave a thought to juicing the apples first. It would be easier to get the man to consume the poison. But then it wouldn't be as painful as he could make it. Slicing a small bite-size chuck from the apple, he stabbed it into the end of the knife. "Open his mouth."

A couple men shifted to grab the jaw of the bound man and pray their fingers into his cheeks and mouth to pry and keep the mouth open. Toby moved quickly, he didn't want his men to get bitten. He shoved the apple and knife down deep into the man's throat, wedging it sideways Toby made sure the chunk stayed behind as he withdrew the knife, slicing the tongue on his way out. As soon as the weapon was free the men around him let go of the man's jaw which snapped shut loudly. The man choked and spat out some of the blood quickly flowing into his mouth. Yet, just as Toby knew, the man swallowed reflexively on the blood, and swallowed the apple piece down as well.

"It'll take a few minutes, but he'll die soon enough" Toby said and flipped the blade shut. He would have to use alcohol to make sure it was clean later.

"Throw him overboard, sir?" Rick asked.

"No. Toss his body on of the other ships once he's dead. One where some of his friends are." As best as they could, Toby and Rick had separated the old Black Pearl group amongst those loyal to him to keep easier eyes on them and to prevent large groups organizing a mutiny too easily. Yet, with about twenty or more ships, they couldn't separate all of them. "Let it be a reminder for them."

"And take that body with you" he nodded towards the decapitated body strung to the mast. I don't want to smell it anymore. Also, find the people who were involved, he wasn't the only one in on this, and use them to test the rest of the food for poison. Throw the ruined food overboard, but keep some just in case."

"Yes, sir." Rick yelled at the other men to get them moving on the Captain's orders.

Toby inwardly sighed and looked over the rolling sea. Already he was sick of this. He knew he could be a captain, but it wasn't a dream he kept. He hoped his non-desire wouldn't make him careless. Something caught his eye in the waves, something dark and small. Maybe it was sharks from this far away.

"Sam!" Toby called up to the crow's nest at the highest mast. "What's out in the water? Port side!"

There was a very significant pause. Then an answering shout. Toby and Rick looked at each other from across the deck. "Say that again, sailor" Rick yelled.

"Dogs!"

'What the hell?' Toby thought. "Hard to port side" he called to Rick.

"Hard to port side!" Rick called out to the men.

Ten minutes later Rick, Toby, and not few of the men stared into the water. The little shaggy dog was strange on its own, out in the middle of the sea. But the other dog… whatever it was…

"My brothers from the sea. Help me!" The cry came from the water, certainly from where the dogs were, but how could one of the dogs speak?

"Is it talking?"

"I heard it. It spoke!"

"It can't possibly be."

"It's trick of the sea. Captain don't let it on board!"

Toby almost agreed with the last comment from his men. But his curiosity was stirred. "Lower the nets" he called. He watched impatiently as the nets were eventually lowered and tossed towards the dogs. The men yanked up the nets and tossed them on deck the leave the animals to crawl out on themselves.

"Good show, fine men!" came the high voice again, and the oddest creature jumped from the nets, causing some men to reach for their weapons. It walked on it's hind legs and though it resembled a dog in form, it's manner, clothing and speech were all that of a late century Englishman.

"What are you?" Toby demanded.

"Sir Toby? Do you not recognize me? Although you were a babe when I last saw you. I am Sir Didymus, and this is my faithful steed Ambrosias." He bowed and gestured to the dog cowering and whimpering under the heavy rope nets. One of the men poked out with a sword and lifted the nets from the animal so it could crawl out. "I have been sent to look after thee, Sir Toby. With every honorable bone in me I will follow the orders sent from the greatest of powers. I will-"

The dog's speech was cut off by the choking, foaming at the mouth, and blood spit/splatter and subsequence death of the condemned poisoned man. There was silence as the man thumped to the deck.

"Sir Toby?" Didymus questioned. "By honor, what goes on here?"

_Greatest of power!. Sarah'_ he mentally thought to his goddess, '_is this a protector you have sent me, or a menace to test me?_'


	5. Ch5: Deals with the Devil

Chapter 5: Deals With The Devil Are Never Over.

Sarah paced the length of the side ally street while keeping an eye on the sinking sun. Her time for thinking was just about up. Even after the past five days Sarah could still recall, word for word, the conversation after Jareth left.

_Johnny gingerly made his way over to Sarah and knelt down to comfort her. Sarah saw his intention and scrambled away from him, wincing as she saw the flash of hurt pass over his face. _

_ "Sarah, I'm not going to -" he started but Sarah cut him off._

_ "It's not that, I won't have you getting hurt because of me. Jar-, the Goblin King made himself perfectly clear. If you… perhaps any male, touches me then there will be consequences." Sarah couldn't bring herself to say the fey's name. At 15 he had been a nightmare who had taken her brother, yet at the end of 13 hours she was able to let him fade away into the night, safe in the knowledge that he would remain in his world and leave her alone in hers. Now he was a frightening reality, a monster who was not confined to his Underground prison and Sarah feared that speaking his name would bring him back and she wasn't ready to deal with him again so soon. _

_ Johnny retained the pained look but understanding accompanied it, they were dealing with something that was unpredictable and dangerous. He was not lost on the similarity between the fey and the Superiors._

_ Kate pulled Sarah up off the floor and for a second everyone paused to wait and see if the fey would suddenly reappear and bring his wrath down on the Club Squad leader for touching Sarah. Nothing happened and there was a collective sigh of relief. "Only males then, huh" Kate said giving a nervous laugh. "Sooo… Goblin King?"_

_ Sarah ran a hand through her dark hair and let out a whoosh of air. She knew this would come back to haunt her one-day. "It was before the Superiors came, I used to have a baby brother." She told them the whole story leaving nothing out, letting them make up their minds whether she was mad or not._

_ "It's so incredible" Harold breathed, "an entirely new world. _

_ "You believe me?"_

_ "After everything that's happened today I'm ready to believe in anything._

_ Sarah lowered her head. "I'm so sorry this happened. I never thought I would see him again. After a while I even thought it was a dream I once had… a really vivid dream that I once thought was real."_

_ "No apologies." Mac ordered, "No one knew this was going to happen."_

_ "So that's why he wants you. You two have a history." Lydia said._

_ Sarah shrugged._

_ "It is this some kind of revenge gig?"_

_ Sarah shrugged again._

_ "May be has some kind of feelings for you - the peach dream, his words at the end and all."_

_ Sarah gave her a dead pan look._

_ "You're right," Lydia gave a strange short laugh; "I don't think the guy is capable of warm fuzzy feelings."_

_ "Do his motives really matter?" Sarah sighed, wishing they would all just drop the subject. Maybe if she ignored it this would all turn out to be another vivid dream._

_ "Of course they do" Johnny gave her a sharp look that instantly softened when he saw how dejected Sarah was. "If he intends to harm you, really hurt you, then his motives count very much."_

At first Sarah had wondered why Jareth had given her so much time to think things over, but after a couple days she knew. As the hours passed the need for food was becoming more desperate, the rains had given them some clean water but it wouldn't last long and she had heard reports of at least three people dying and five more falling ill from lack of medical supplies. The Superiors didn't need to kill the resistance to stop them; they just needed to wait until they all died off – just like they were doing. The only bright side to the past couple of days was that there had been no more attacks by Force Groups trying to flush them out. Whatever trick Jareth had pulled that night had scared them off for the time being… and if Sarah gave him what he wanted it was so tempting to think how much he could do for the resistance.

Sarah sighed and walked down another street, keeping an eye and an ear out for trouble despite the compliancy of the last few days. The final rays of daylight were fast growing shorter on the ground. She almost regretted convincing the others that she should do this by herself, but she didn't want anyone around when she put up her one defense against the Goblin King's adamancy to have sex with her. It was based entirely upon the fey's integrity and Sarah knew that it would raise all hell if the others heard it. She hadn't told the others her one saving grace, her arguments had remained along the lines that she could bargain with the Goblin King better if she knew that everyone was safe out of harm's way, and that she would sneak out anyway if they didn't let her.

'Deep breaths Sarah' she told herself, but peace didn't come. For a moment she held her breath and even the world around her seemed to still for that one moment. "Jareth, are you there?"

"Right here Sarah" his voice whispered in her ear causing her to spin around and stumble back from him. Jareth's lips quirked up at her reaction. "Have you come to a decision?" The sun finally dipped fully behind the horizon.

"I think I have the right to negotiate first." Sarah forcibly stopped her shaking nerves and faced Jareth full on. She would not allow any more fear to show through or any other emotion for that matter. She couldn't afford to allow him to see how he affected her.

Jareth nodded, "So you do. But I do ask that you make it interesting, you wouldn't want to bore me."

Sarah bit her tongue to stop the sharp retort on the edge of it. She had heard the underlying warning and she was wise enough to heed it. Years of fighting for her life and living in amongst trash had put a curb on her pride - she knew when she had to stomp on it to keep it down. "Jareth," she began, "this is insane. You don't want me…"

"I think I know what I want Sarah" he quietly admonished.

Sarah continued on as if he hadn't spoken. "…And if this is some kind of a revenge thing then don't you think I'm suffering enough living the life I am now? Surely there's something else that you want. Ask for anything else and I'll swear that I'll get it for you. Anything." Sarah knew she had left herself wide open with that remark and by the smirk on Jareth's face he knew it too, yet strangely he didn't comment on it.

"I only want you," he said.

"You can't have me." shot back Sarah.

Jareth closed the small distance between them and Sarah found herself unable to move. Raising one hand he palmed one of her cheeks and stroked the soft skin. "What makes you think you can stop me?"

"Then why don't you just take what you want?" Sarah hitched her breath on that one.

"Where would be the fun in that dear Sarah?"

His eyes held her frozen and Sarah felt her own prick with unshed tears. How was he able to shatter all her defenses like this? Why couldn't she hold herself together when he was around? She drew in a shaky breath and closed her eyes against his piercing gaze but it only made things worse as she became acutely aware of his touch, as gentle as the morning breeze yet rushing furiously through her body like a gale. She had to stop this. Had to hope against hope that her one argument would stop him from what he so determinably wanted. "You can't do this… can't"

Jareth lightly brushed his lips over Sarah's before saying softly against them "I can, and I fully intend to."

Sarah felt the pure rush of magic as if flowed into her from that light kiss, felt her body tremble from the strength of its power and felt the first tear fall. "I can't… I've never…"

"Shhh" he hushed and gathered Sarah's pliant body against his own before bringing his mouth down on hers.

It wasn't the hard demanding kiss she expected from a man who was claiming what he had conquered. His lips slid over hers, caressing, seductive, yet gentle, almost worshipful. Hands skimmed down over her back and trailed teasingly along the top of her bottom before traveling back up, holding her more firmly against him. His tongue reached out to taste her lips, seeking an entry. She tried to refuse him but the magic swirled around them, strong and pulsating and what he was doing felt so good… so very good… Sarah gasped as Jareth gave her bottom lip a small nip then moaned in pleasure as he soothed it over and softly reached out his tongue to entwine with hers. She could taste salt and realized it was her own tears mingled within the kiss. But it didn't matter anymore; nothing mattered anymore as long as she could stay swept away in this whirlwind of passion that was spiraling out of control - out of her control.

Jareth moved from her lips and trailed a path down her neck and across to nuzzle softly against her shoulder that had her shivering in need. Sarah's arms had long since wrapped themselves around Jareth's neck to hold herself against him. "Sarah" he breathed, "I know you've never been with another man."

His words broke the spell and it shattered like splattering rain made of ice as she pushed herself away from him. "What?"

Jareth smirked and Sarah felt the heat rising to her cheeks. "I've made sure of it over the years" he continued, "I knew that when you finally came to my bed I would be your first lover, and I intend to make sure that I'll be the only lover you ever have."

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The Boss stood still and didn't blink. Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating. There was a dry rasp of scales sliding along the ground then a viscous hiss as the incredibly large snake struck out at him. But of course, no harm came to the Boss as the five by five meter high cage held the reptile prisoner. Not long after receiving the news of the strange attack a few nights ago, he had sent out a crew to capture one of the creatures that had supposedly transmorphed from guns. They had only found the one and three men had died trying to catch it. What happened to all the other snakes, no one knew. Perhaps they had gone back to whatever mystical world they had originated from. Whatever the reason, seeing this impossibly gigantic snake in front of him, the Boss could not deny the wild stories from that night. This creature was not of this world.

Really, the snake was quite beautiful. Its scales were brown, but when reflected in the light they glinted a dark purple and green. It curled, slithered and struck with speed and grace in negative linear with its size; an incredible 30 centimeter in diameters at it's thickest part and at least ten meters long. The cage really wasn't big enough for it to comfortable stretch out in. Perhaps he could keep it, train it for his own purposes. What a weapon it would be! If he could gain its loyalty – there was definitely intelligence in those eyes, hatred at being caged – what a formidable protector it could be. Two bad they hadn't caught a pair so he could breed them, but he wasn't even sure whether the one he had was male or female.

"Yi" he beckoned and from the shadows came a small dark-haired woman who couldn't have been beyond her teenage years. She was his personal assistant and had served him for the past year without fail. "Find me a snake specialist. Give them whatever resources are needed to discover as much as they can about this creature, but no harm must come to it."

He put a hand out towards the cage, the material of his robes drifting and falling with his movement so that his hand and wrist was bared. The glittering snake shifted forward, and then almost tentively flicked out its tongue to taste the air, then lower to taste the outstretch hand.

"I name you Dusk" he spoke softly to it.

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Ten minutes later the Boss was walking down several corridors towards his personal chambers. He was quietly pleased with the progress from the last few days and that little bit was far too much to have to bow before the Superiors with. They did not like what they viewed as smugness in any degree. Admittedly he had become a little complacent since coming to Seattle, _but he was so close to his prize…_

He entered his chambers and pulled the heavy robe that shielded most of his features from his body and tossed it to his bed. Strength was his form, each arm and leg heavily muscled and slightly golden skin was dusted with dark hair. Years before he became a prime servant for the Superiors he found it easier to wear the cloak as he was often told he was a handsome man. The Superiors discouraged such self-indulgent thoughts and his looks were now only useful if there were needed in brining down resistance groups. He also removed his shirt, shoes and socks that all that covered him were pants.

Moving further through his room, he reaches the back where there are two locked doors. Holding a palm over the locks he whispered a word and there was a click and the doors swung open. The room beyond held the reverent air of a church with gentle candlelight sliding the room into soft shadows. The carpet was a royal blue and the walls were painted to match. Rather than an alter on a raised dais there was a pool of dark water that sat in a dip at end of the room.

He dropped to his knees and reached for the ceremonial knife. Making a clean slice along the palm of his hand he left some blood fall into the dark pool.

"I ask that the Superiors grant me an audience."

The blood that had dropped into the water merely sat as stained water for a moment then the temperature dropped drastically. The man resisted the urge to shift as the cold froze a thin layer of frost along his bare skin. The bloodied water suddenly spread as if those few drops were bleeding themselves until the entire pool reflected a dark red. The temperature dropped again as the water rose up on its own and took forms of four beings. The Superiors.

No distinguishing features could be said about these watery forms, except that two were female and two were male – no facial features, no colour beyond the blood red.

"Servant" one of the male Superiors spoke. "Report to us."

In a low tone, without emotion the man replayed all of what had happened over the past few days.

The instant attention of the Superiors was noticeable.

"This man, this sorcerer, what did he look like?" demanded the other male.

"The men report him as tall, having blond hair and dressed entirely in black. He seemed otherworldly."

"It is Jareth" one of the women hissed. She turned to the kneeling man. "You will watch this very carefully, servant" she snapped. "You will find all you can about why this man is in Seattle, you will find out what he is doing. You will report to us as soon as you have any information. Do not fail on this, servant."

"I will not fail, my lady."

The Superiors seemed to relax slightly. "I believe you servant" one of the men spoke, "you have yet to fail us."

"You honour me" the man replied without emotion.

There was a significant pause. "There is a desire inside you, servant," the woman who had not spoke previously almost whispered, as if there was a secret between them.

He made no move, did not reply.

"Do you deny this?"

He kept his head lowered. "No, my lady."

"You must purge yourself of this."

"Yes, my lady."

"Dismissed."

The water splashed down without sound and the presence of the Superiors vanished. The water was again a dark blue pool.

Obeying the wishes of the Superiors the Boss went back to his bedroom and retrieved his whip. "For you, Sarah" he whispered and started whipping his own back. Each slash open the skin and just as the blood started to run down his back the flesh knitted itself up. Healed. Whole. Yet the agony still lingered.

"For you, Sarah. Always for you."


	6. Ch6: Sinking into Quicksand

Chapter 6: Sinking into Quicksand.

Sarah turned and fled.

Jareth watched her run, his head cocked to one side, his eyes following her until she vanished around a corner. A high pitched giggle from behind him shifted his attention.

"I remember her from the labyrinth, sire."

Jareth didn't face the goblin but spoke to it nonetheless, "You should, she defeated the labyrinth as few have and is the only mortal who has made it through."

"I think she's very pretty, sire."

A smile twitched at Jareth's lips, the taste of Sarah still there, "As do I. Go, follow her, keep her safe, and make sure she doesn't leave this area."

"OK sire."

Jareth heard more laughter and numerous goblins scamper from hiding places to do his bidding. Almost immediately it was replaced by slow, thumping footsteps. This time the king turned to face his subject, "Ludo, so glad you could come."

The shaggy orange creature gave a low rumble, "Sawah fwend."

"Yes, Sarah is a friend and I'm hoping by the end of the night that she'll be much more to me."

Ludo gave Jareth a confused look and Jareth smiled at the large animal's innocence, "Ludo, I need you to go to the humans' hiding spot and protect those that are there. If any of the bad people come, call me. Can you do that?"

"Ludo help," was the growling reply before he ambled away.

"Yous actually going to help them?" asked Hoggle, "Sarah hasn't even agreed to the deal yet."

Jareth looked down at the dwarf, "Sarah doesn't have a choice. Willingly would be better, but if I have to use force I will. Helping the other mortals is just generosity on my part."

Hoggle flinched at the words and poked a foot through the dirt and dust on the ground, "I's don't like this. This is wrong. The peach dream was bad to begins with, but this is much worse." Hoggle could feel Jareth's glare on him.

"If Sarah had accepted the peach dream in the beginning none of this would be necessary and she would have already been mine." The words sent a powerful image into Jareth's mind, heat rushing to lower parts of his body. _Sarah lay entwined in his sheets, naked save for the sweat of their earlier exertion sill sliding off her smooth, hot skin. Hair – the colour of night – fanning out and embracing her body. Her eyes opened and darkened with the promise of more passion. _Jareth breathed deeply to calm himself and dispel the sweet apparition. "Go back to the Underground, Hoggle, you're not needed here tonight."

Hoggle nodded, understanding the implications and turned, his form fading away to nothing.

Jareth sniffed the magic the night gave out and grinned, "Time is up Sarah. You can't hide from me any longer."

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Sarah's feet pounded along the ground while her heart beat faster. She raggedly drew breathes in, her throat constricted by the dry sobs that tore at her throat. A cold wind whipped her hair back. How could Jareth do that to her - control her life to the extent that he obviously had. All those times she had tried to find a little pleasure in a world full of pain, it had been taken from her.

Luke, who had been shot down by force groups,

Tyler, who was captured and forced to live by the Superior's laws.

And Paul...

Paul who had been her partner before Johnny, whom she had been separated from in a fight and had never seen since.

After Paul, she couldn't bare to love anyone like that again. She loved Johnny and the others, but only as family. Now she knew the real reason for the loss of the ones she had loved - they weren't taken from her by some cruel twist of fate, they were taken from her by Jareth. Jareth, who seemed to manipulate every aspect of her life. This had to be the very definition of unfair. She had her basis for comparison now!

High-pitched laughter stopped her dead in her tracks and she spun around towards the sound. The laughter was gone as if it had never been and Sarah stood frozen like a deer caught in headlights. The wind grew colder and stronger, howling in the absence of the giggling. Someone laughed behind her and as soon as she whipped her head around to face it, it came again to the right of her.

"Stop it!" she yelled, her voice catching on the last word. Laughter surrounded her and shadows moved across the ground. "J-just stop it!" she sobbed and sank to the ground, her legs no longer having strength. "Just l-leave m-m-me alone." The mocking laughter and the gale of wind grew and rose together – invading her senses, filling her mind. It was like a madness that crawled across her skin and she just wanted it to stop. She screamed out to be heard above the noise. "SHUT UP!"

The giggling stopped. The wind dropped and no longer assaulted her senses. The ground beneath her was soft, not hard. Warm arms wrapped around her and drew her towards a strong chest. Sarah's mind dimly registered the changes, choosing instead to focus fully on the source of comfort offered. She cried into the bare skin and felt gentle hands run up and down her back, rubbing in wide, open circles. The chest vibrated slightly as a deep voice hummed a soft melody. Eventually a baritone diapason voice sung words:

_I wait to hear your breathing_

_I watch you as you're sleeping_

_Inside a garden blooming live the roses that you seek._

_Inside a tunnel glowing_

_Peace is there, I'm here_

_Flash in darkness falls like snowing_

_The messages are clear._

_Indeed I'm here_

_Indeed_

_Watching every movement_

_Holding close to you as you cry._

_Indeed I'm here_

_Indeed_

_Closer than your shadow_

_Though I may be gone _

_I'm here indeed._

_In your familiar dreaming_

_You look at your surroundings_

_And find there's something missing_

_Yes, I know it's true_

_And while you search the longing_

_I come to you_

_I hear my name you're calling_

_My promise is still true_

_I won't forget the time _

_When I'd not said goodbye_

_But even when I'm gone_

_I'm standing by your side_

_Indeed I'm here_

_Indeed_

_Standing by your heartbeat_

_Holding close to you as you cry_

_Indeed I'm here_

_Indeed_

_Watching every movement_

_Though I may be gone _

_I'm here indeed_

_When you think there's no one watching over you_

_Call my name and you will hear my flame_

_Indeed I'm here_

_Indeed_

_Standing by your heartbeat_

_Holding close to you as you cry_

_Indeed I'm here_

_Indeed_

_Closer than your shadow_

_Though I may be gone _

_I'm here indeed*_

Sarah calmed slightly, now only the occasional sob jerked from her while tears still trickled down and stained her face. Thoughts became less fragmented and slowly formed into more concrete convictions. Why shouldn't she just jump into bed with some guy? Today everyone snatched at what little comfort they could. She was a 27 year old virgin! An old maid! True that it was Jareth's fault, but why shouldn't she take what he was offering? Why not experience what she could before she died? Life had been shitty to her, why couldn't she be shitty to it? Let the rest of the world go to hell, she didn't care anymore. Didn't care… didn't care…

Her thoughts started off a fresh wave of sobs as she lightly thumped against the chest and whispered brokenly, "don't care… don't care anymore."

One hand left her back to grasp her fist. She watched through blurry eyes as her fingers were uncurled and her palm kissed. Sarah pulled in a sharp breath as two mismatched eyes stared into her own. Jareth brushed the tears from her face and pushed her thick hair back behind her shoulders.

"You do care Sarah, sometimes too much for your own good. But for tonight let me make you forget the pain. Forget what your world has done to you and just feel."

Jareth swiftly captured Sarah lips with his own and she clung to it like a lifeline. His kiss wiped her mind blank – a balm to the burning pain inside her – and she wrapped her arms around her neck, desperate to keep him there. His hands traveled up and down her back, pulling her closer to him. 'This feels so good, so right,' thought Sarah and she gulped in breath as Jareth moved his lips from her mouth to skim along her still wet cheeks. His fingers worked quickly at her clothes, sliding her shirt open to reveal her bra-clad breasts.

She felt herself tipped backwards, her entwined arms about his neck bringing Jareth down with her. The surface beneath her was soft and gave slightly with their weight. Jareth's tongue darted out to taste her breast and Sarah's eyes shot open as it roamed around her nipple. A hand covered her other breast, fingers brushing over the sensitive cloth-covered tip. Sarah arched up into him, threading fingers through his hair, holding him to her. Hazily, she noticed that she was not looking up at the stars as she would have been had she still been out in the streets. Instead there were dark drapes hanging off oak wood. Jareth's bedroom…

Dazedly, Sarah saw Jareth suddenly lift his head and look to the side as if he had heard something. He swore and she snapped back to reality… and embarrassment as she realized that she was partly naked underneath Jareth. Before she could shove the fey off her, Jareth gave her a hard kiss and moved away from her. More colour flushed to her face as she noticed that Jareth was fully dressed. Sarah suddenly felt extremely vulnerable and clutched at the material below her to cover her state of undress, as her top seemed nowhere in sight.

Jareth watched her put up the protective barrier of sheets and gave a thought to removing the sheets altogether – she shouldn't hide any part of her from him. But time enough for that later. He gave her a smirk, "It seems we'll be slightly detained, some urgent business has come up. It is just as well. You're quite filthy and badly in need of a bath, no doubt a natural consequence from living in the sewers. I'll be back to finish what we started." He vanished before Sarah took the breath for a retort.

Instinct took over and Sarah looked for an avenue of escape, her mind working furiously at logic after her disastrous attempt of going with the flow. Besides an archway leading to a bathroom, there was nothing.

"You bastard," she grated out quietly, "what sort of person has a room without doors?" Sarah suddenly realized what her mistake had been all along. She had been treating him as a person, as a human and he was anything but. Time to change plans.

"Right Sarah," she said to herself, "first thing is first, find some clothes, then call on a few old, not so human, friends."

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If it was possible to kill his king, he was sure he would do it, Charlie thought. 'Charlie' – the name he had adopted for this insane mission Jareth had sent him on. After seeing Sir Didymus on his way he had taken off into the heart of enemy territory – Superior headquarters. He had grabbed the name from the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but he felt like he was more of a 'Charlie in the Fucking Insane Castle of Doom Because His King Was A Bastard' kind of character.

The past few hours had had been an intense air of excitement – the bad kind. The Superiors were in a right tizzy and everyone was feeling the effects. The maids were running as fast and as silently as they could, the guards were actually standing more rigid than paying attention and a lack of either could get them killed, the manservents were running as if they were chickens without heads – in fact everything was running at top speed except for-

"Charlie!" the snapped whisper breathed hot air into his ear and he flinched, "What's taking you so long?"

Charlie turned to find his overseer, Gary, standing much too close in his personal space, close enough to see the pores on his nose. Charlie fought not to breathe in too deeply in case he inhaled in the other man's body odour. Not a pleasant prospect "Sorry sir, I got lost."

"Lost? The Superiors won't care that you got lost. They've already killed two people today. You don't want to be their third. Hurry up!" Gary shoved him to get him moving.

'_Really_', Charlie thought, '_why would the human race put up with a government who killed them? Why serve them in a place where death was possible at every turn? Where was their rebellion? _

_ Fear_

_ Lots of fear._

_ And with good reason, the Superiors had supplied many reasons for the Aboveground residents to be scared of them. Petrified. Yet,_' and Charlie gave one last glance at Gary as he scuttled away, _'why put yourself in the very middle of it? Unless, of course, your king had ordered you. The bastard.'_

Charlie dashed down the hallways and skidded to a stop in front of one door. He knocked once loudly. After the command to enter, he bowed low at the waist before opening the door and walking in. Never once did he lift his eyes from the ground as he held the clean bath towels in his arms.

"Put them next to the bath, servant. Then run my bath for me," came the imperious order from the male Superior. Charlie bowed lower in acknowledgment and scurried to do the task, as well as listen in on the conversation.

"Amol, if Jareth had appeared Aboveground then we should attack him as one right now, before he can do whatever it is he has come here to do."

"Calm down, Jerode," the other male Superior said quietly, "Jareth has never cared for mortals before. Whatever his purpose is up here, it is for some malevolent trickery. There's no reason for him to interfere in what we are doing."

"Except for his perchant for malevolent trickery!" Jerode paced his room, "Jareth has the power to stop us, he-"

"He cannot defeat us, not all four of us together," Amol reasoned, "Why cause trouble when there's no need? If we interfere with whatever Jareth may be doing then he will turn his attention on us. Though I have no doubt that _together_ we can defeat him, he is a wily enough opponent to separate us. However, if we leave well enough alone, I'm sure he will return soon enough back to the Underground."

"But he helped those damn Resistors! He's up to something!" Jerode slashed a hand down in frustration.

Amol frowned, "Perhaps. But we have our best eyes on him. Our servant in Seattle is beyond human, we have made him so, and he will not miss Jareth's tricks."

"There's something wrong," Jerode insisted. "Even now I swear I can smell the stench of the Underground."

Charlie froze for a second in adding oils to the bath.

*_Indeed, I'm here._ Copywrite Drew Lane (2001). From the CD _No Categories_. For his musicals go to his website **.net**


	7. Ch7: Things are not what they seem

Chapter 7: Things are not what they seem; other things just don't want to follow the rules.

Much to Sarah's own disgust, she did take up Jareth's suggestion and took a bath. After all, it had been so many years since she had been in a pool of clean, unadulterated water and the almost unbearable heat seemed to wash away her life in the sewers. Stretching out of the bath before the water had a chance to get cold, she wrapped herself in a thick, dark forest green towel and felt as though she had a new lease on life. It was wonderful. Jareth was a bastard.

Moving back into the bedroom, she searched a nearby wardrobe for something suitable to wear, all the while her mind was working. To make an escape from this god-forsaken room, she would call upon Hoggle – he did always seem to have a way with doors. Hopefully the offer to come whenever she called was still in place. She hadn't used it since the war started - perhaps because she didn't want them in danger, or perhaps she hadn't wanted them to see what had become of her and her world. Something deep inside cruelly whispered that she didn't want anyone to tell her that she should have taken her dreams and left the screaming babe to the goblins, that her trip through the labyrinth meant nothing in the big scheme of things, that is was all pointless.

If, on the other hand, she couldn't get help and get out of the room, she would have to wait until Jareth returned and to get this deal discussed once and for all. Negotiations would hopefully delay him bedding her for a minute. She now knew that Jareth would indeed take her to his bed – why, she didn't quite know, but her body was her bargaining tool and she intended to use it well. God, even thinking about it made her nauseous. But, if she learned nothing else from her years of reading fantasy and history, she knew that it wouldn't be the first time that a deal had been made via a woman's body. Arranged marriages were a perfect example, a union between two people that would benefit both parties. But again that raised the question of why Jareth wanted her. It seemed to benefit her entirely - she gained protection for her family, help against the Superiors, possibly even a victory. Surely if he just wanted someone to warm his bed he could have chosen someone more beautiful and more experienced. It just didn't make sense! And why had he waited until now? Why not come years ago?

Sighing in frustration, Sarah pulled out one of the dresses and put it on. Another thing that she hadn't done since the war was put on a dress, touch a dress. Smoothing the silky material down her thighs, she took a breath and called for Hoggle. For a second nothing happened and a moment of panic swept through her, but then his familiar form shimmered into the room and his gravelly voice questioned, "Sarah?"

Sarah fell to her knees and hugged the surprised dwarf, "Oh Hoggle, I've missed you so much. It's been so long since I've seen you."

Hoggle struggled free, "Now none of that missy, I's not want Jareth to piff me to the bog again. He's... he's not here, is he?"

Sarah grinned at him, "Nah, his royal pain in the butt isn't here. He's... well I don't really know where he is, but he isn't here. He had some 'urgent business' to go deal with." Sarah moved back to slump against the bed. "Hoggle, I'm in trouble. I really need some help." She dropped her head in her hands and spoke through her fingers. "Jareth dropped out of nowhere and has made this mad proposition that I sleep with him in exchange for help in the war against the Superiors. Oh yeah, earth has been at war for the past few years and we really need some help. Anyway, he's left me in this room and I really need to get out and find my friends - well they're more like my family - because they have no idea what's happened to me." Sarah paused and Hoggle remained conspicuously silent. She peered up at him. "Hoggle?"

Hoggle glanced at Sarah before quickly turning away and poking his foot into the floor. A white-hot emotion slowly filled her. "You know," she whispered, "You know about all of it, don't you." It came out more of a statement than an actual question,

"I's was never a good liar Sarah."

Sarah stood up and towered over the little man, her voice slowly rising, "Don't give me that cryptic shit Hoggle. You know about everything. Did you know before or after I was kidnapped to this room?"

"Before."

"And you just let it happen!" she shouted, "you didn't even give me a god-damned warning."

Hoggle took a step towards Sarah, hoping to reason with the angry woman, "You knows Jareth, he would have knowns about it and stopped me." Then he said more quietly, "he's my king Sarah, I can't-"

"Oh yeah, that's just you, isn't it Hoggle" Sarah cut him off sarcastically, "always the damn coward. I don't want a traitor for a friend. Get out."

"Sarah, I's-"

"I said get out!"

Hoggle looked hopelessly at Sarah's back now that she had turned her face from him, unable to look at him, " I's sorry I's can't help you Sarah."

"Just go, Hoggle," she made her voice a soft, dangerous tone, hating the betrayal that spread through her system and hating that Hoggle had put it there.

"But Sarah?" came Hoggle's voice and she turned partly to indicate she was listening, "Yous gotta remember that nothing is what it seems."

Sarah felt rather than saw Hoggle leave. She couldn't believe that Hoggle had betrayed her... but then thinking back to the peach incident maybe she could. There was also that time in the oubliette as well... How could she be so stupid! Sarah ran her fingers roughly through her hair.

"OK Sarah," she told herself, "this is getting you no where. Calm down." It was not like Hoggle had come to her and not told her Jareth's plans. True, she had not seen him or Ludo or Sir Didymus, so Hoggle appearing out of nowhere would be kind of weird. Would she have really believed had he told her that Jareth, who she had also not seen in years, had plans to whisk her away and make her his lover? Putting it that way, it sounded unbelievable even to her. It was just that the friends that she had Aboveground she expected complete loyalty and trust between them. Therefore, she expected the same from her old friends in the labyrinth. Yet, it was true what Hoggle had said, Jareth was his king.

Sarah groaned and fell back onto the bed. What a mess everything was! She had royally screwed up – with her only parting words were her telling him to get out of the room... to get out of her life. While his parting words were... Sarah head shot up. Nothing is what it seems. Perhaps Hoggle _had_ helped her. Sarah jumped up from the bed and raced to the wall. She slid her hands up and down franticly searching... searching... searching...

Suddenly, her fingers bumped up against something. Touching the area to explore it, she felt the smooth round shape of the invisible doorknob. Further exploration revealed an invisible crack that was the opening of a door. Heart beating faster in excitement, she carefully turned the doorknob and pushed. The door slammed open and wind roared into the room, almost pulling Sarah out of it, but she held her ground and her eyes grew round at the sight outside. There was no room, no sky, no ground. Just inky darkness that stretched on forever, as if there was nothing, simply nothing there at all.

Sarah fought the beginnings of panic. The room suddenly seemed too small and the nothingness outside was too big and both made a strange, frightening mixture of claustrophobia and agoraphobia. She squeezed her eyes shut and whispered to herself, "it's just an illusion, it's just an illusion, it's just an illusion..." She stepped out into the darkness... and fell... and screamed...

JS JS JS JS JS JS

Johnny was beginning to worry. True, Sarah had not been gone for long but any time she spent with that... Goblin King was dangerous. What an outrageous concept it was - a magical being stealing away younger siblings. If he hadn't witnesses the magic firsthand, he doubted that he would have believed it. What were fey capable of anyway?

"There's no point worrying about it, Johnny," said Mac laying a hand on his shoulder. "Sarah can look after herself, and besides, I personally don't think this Jareth guy will hurt her." Johnny snorted in disbelief and Mac shook his head. "What can you do about it anyway; we don't even know where Sarah is. Stop worrying about what you can't do and come worry about something you can."

Mac led Johnny to the conference table where Kate and Michael were already leaning over maps of Seattle. Kate waved a hand over the bay area, "Force Groups are starting to concentrate over in the west, but we can't figure out whether reinforcements are coming in or if supplies are arriving. Either way, if we arrange an attack when it comes in it should be worth it. The shipment is arriving within seven days, so that's plenty of time to arrange an offensive. Harold is gathering more information as we speak."

Johnny nodded, "We should keep up out usual movements as much as possible though, we don't want them to get suspicious."

"Speaking of supplies though" said Mac, "we're staring to run low in all areas. If this shipment isn't supplies then we're going to have to do something about it. As it stands, if it _is_ supplies, it won't be all that we need. The scavenger hunts of the city grounds are yielding less and less and I hate the idea of sending people to steal from the Force Group base itself. They will come to expect it and it'll make our job so much harder. And they'll know we're getting desperate."

"What about this Jareth guy?" Michael said, leaning back in his chair, "whether you like it or not, Sarah's going to make the deal. If you had the choice you know you'd do the same. So we have to remember that this guy is on our side - surely with all his power he can whip something up."

"Michael's got a point," agreed Mac, "the question is how do we contact him?"

The meeting was brought to a halt by one of Johnny's guys running up to them, "Sir, something is coming this way through the south entrance, we can't stop it and when we tried to shoot it, the bullet didn't really seem to affect it."

Johnny looked confused, "What is coming this way? Is it Force Groups?"

The man shook his head, "I don't know what it is, sir, but it's big and orange. I don't think it's human."

"And the fun keeps rolling in," quipped Kate.

"Go rally the others and start a blockade over in the south entrance. If we can lure it into here, we can surround it and deal with it from there. Kate, can you get some of your people to scour the rest of the sewers for any more of these orange things?"

"On it," nodded Kate.

"Mac-"

"I've got the kids, Johnny," said Mac as he turned to start ordering his people towards the safety of the children.

"And I'll back you up," added in Michael.

Gunfire could be heard in the distance and everyone froze for a second as an inhuman roar echoed through the tunnels. Johnny grabbed an automatic thrown to him by Michael, then ran over to the south entrance. Three people were running out of it with one turning around to fire back into the tunnel. The loud roar sounded again and the freedom fighters took a collective step back as the beast emerged. It stood well above any of the humans, not resembling any of the animals on Earth. Its long shaggy orange coat covered its whole body and its eyes rolled wildly around, looking like something come up from hell – with all that had happened, they weren't quite convinced that it wasn't indeed just that. Someone fired to keep the beast back and its intelligible roar sounded out horribly, but the bullets didn't seem to penetrate its tough hide.

"Fall back and surround," yelled Johnny, "No one fire, we don't want to shoot each other. Peter get the tranquilizers. Everyone just… poke it or something to keep it where it is." Despite the situation, there were a few chuckles and snickers.

The orange beast looked at Johnny and took a step towards him. Johnny took a matching step back and raised the automatic threateningly. The beast stopped and let out what sounded suspiciously like a whimper before moving forward again. It held out one giant massive paw that could easily crush skulls and groaned out long and slow "heeeeelp". Johnny visible hesitated and the beast took another step forward.

Michael darted forward and jabbed the butt of an automatic into the hip of the orange monster to get its attention away from Johnny. The beast roared in pain and swung wildly in the direction of the attack, knocking Michael back. Johnny leaped forward to beat the beast back, but it anticipated his attack, grabbed his gun, and threw it back before pinning Johnny to the ground. Everyone froze.

The beast leaned down and sniffed Johnny while he held deathly still. The beast whimpered again and said, "Sawah friend?" Johnny could see Michael stiffen at the words and hold a hand to stop Peter from firing the tranquilizer at the strange creature. Something triggered in the back of Johnny's mind as Sarah's amazing story came back to him.

Moving very carefully, Johnny put a hand lightly on the shoulder of the beast and asked, "Ludo?"

The beast's mouth seemed to widen impossibly in something barely recognizable as a grin.

"Sarah fwend?" Ludo repeated.

"Yes, I'm a friend of Sarah's."

"Ludo fwend!" Ludo suddenly proclaimed and proceeded to lift Johnny up in a great bear hug. The surrounding freedom fighters stood around unsure what to do. They were pretty sure this Ludo creature wasn't there to hurt them after all, but the way he was hugging the team leader looked like he was about to crack ribs. Johnny gasped for breath and frantically patted Ludo to put him down, which the orange creature quickly complied with once it realised that he hurting the human. "Ludo sorry," he rumbled.

"I'm ok, just be a bit careful next time ok big guy."

Ludo nodded.

Johnny wondered if he had fractured bones.

JS JS JS JS JS JS

Half an hour later. The Resistance leaders still had gaping mouths when looking at the monster… at Ludo. After Johnny, it was the children who were the first to go near Ludo. In amongst the disbelief, no one had reacted fast enough to stop a few of the children from racing fearlessly up to the beast and beginning to play tag with him. Linda has almost stormed in there and dragged the children away when Mac put a warning hand on her armed and whispered to wait. For a creature that size, he was displaying incredible gentleness towards the little ones. Perhaps they recognized the innocence in each other.

"I can't believe he's real, I've never seen anything like it." Mac couldn't take his eyes away, sure that the moment he did Ludo would vanish and he would be left wondering were the hallucination had gone to. "But every time I look into that huge mouth I'm made a quick believer."

"Should we be letting him this close to the children?" Linda whispered with her heart in her throat as Tasha, her little baby girl, climbed over the orange beast as if it was a jungle gym. She kept waiting for the moment Ludo would snap and toss the child too easily against the wall.

"Look at him. He's being so gentle. Jareth must have sent him," Melinda watched with gentle eyes.

"Just why I don't trust it," Linda said.

"Speaking of which, Sarah should have been back by now," Johnny looked once again to the entrances of the sewers.

Melinda bit her lip and looked at him, "If Ludo is here, then it stands to reason that Sarah made the deal for Jareth to help us, which means she's probably-"

"Don't say it," Johnny hissed, "I hate the thought of that bastard touching her. I hate that we even let her contemplate it in the first place." He could still remember the agonising pain as the table legs shoved bluntly into his skin and his life bled away. That bastard was going to hurt Sarah. He just knew it.

All the Resistance leaders looked shamefaced at his words. Each one of them felt guilty for letting Sarah enter into the deal without nearly enough of a fight. But they had all lost so much, and if there was even a small chance that the future could have a future… One thing was for sure – no matter which way you looked at it, the situation was fucked.

"Mac! Mac!"

Half of the Resistance leaders reached for their own weapons before recognizing one of their own. Everyone was still on adrenaline.

"Mac!" the man called for a third time, "Force Groups! In the sewers!"

Mac swore. "Let's move it people!" he yelled out, "Code red, code red!"

The call spread like wildfire. The children were snatch up from their play, Ludo looking confused at the sudden action. The kids knew instantly what was going on and went very quiet, leaving behind any toys and carrying nothing.

"I've got the kids" Melinda said, and ran to lead the small group of adults guiding the children to safety. Everyone else fifteen years and above made sure they were armed and started to scatter in small groups out through every entrance of the sewers. Mac, Johnny, and a few more senior members stayed right where they were, ready to fight to the death.

Linda grabbed the man who had first warned them and started to drag him towards one of the tunnel openings. He was tired from running to give the warning and wouldn't be up to the first line of defense.

Suddenly, he stumbled and fell. Linda stopped short to pick him up, grabbing him by the upper arm. She yanked at him to pull him up, but he felt unusually heavy and his arm slipped from her fingers. Then she saw the blood seeping out of his back. He had been shot, must have been dead within the second. Fearfully, she turned to look behind her.

From the shadows stepped two Force Group guards, weapons drawn, ready to kill.


	8. Ch8: Underground

Chapter 8: Underground.

Linda was not fast enough in reaching for her weapon before an ill-aimed shot wrenched her shoulder back as a bullet shot ripped through it. She stumbled to the ground and thought she heard someone cry out her name. From a distance she thought she heard the scream of a child and hoped to God it wasn't Tasha.

Johnny and Mac saw Linda fall and before either of them could do anything, Ludo roared making everything around them vibrate. Out of instinct and training, one of the Force Group men turned and shot at him.

The first shot that hit Ludo seemed to surprise the huge creature rather than hurt him. The second, third, and fourth made him stumble back a step. The next two shots seemed to be the last straw for him.

Ludo bellowed out a noise, gave a roar so tremendous that it shook the tunnel walls around them. Dust and dirt from the ceiling scattered down, the water on the ground rippled, and the echoes of the sound roared back at them, overlapping the deep sound again and again. Many people coughed and sputtered as the falling dust got caught in their lungs. Ludo stopped his cry and there was an eerie moment where the echoes continued in the tunnels and seemed to take forever to fade.

Either these were the same Force Groups that had been there with the snakes or they were warned of odd things that could happen, but they didn't hesitate for long.

"Kill it."

"No!" Johnny screamed and sent a spray of bullet at the enemy, but it wasn't enough. Bullet rounds from at least six people hit the shaggy orange creature, the force alone sending Ludo falling back to land heavily on his behind.

No human could have survived the attack but Ludo did. He roared again, and this time when he stopped the rumbling around them didn't fade and end. It increased in volume until it sounded like an avalanche was tumbling furiously through the tunnels. No one could hear themselves yell above the noise. Both sides took advantage of the confusion to take shots at the other team, but the ground suddenly started jumping beneath their feet, rolling and jabbing in strange ways – making it impossible to take aim.

Rocks and boulders from who knows where came rolling full speed from every entry tunnel as if the land was suddenly tipped up at an angle with everything was stumbling downhill. The first of the large boulders hit the Force Group with a sickening mixture of thuds and cracks as heads were smashed in and bones were broken, then shattered by repeated stone attack.

It seemed chaotic that the rocks were going to tumble madly at anyone in their way, but as Ludo continued to roar the rocks bounced erratically sideways and around the Resistors. Their only problem was choking on the dust rising around them from the earth shifting. Scarily, the concrete beneath their feet suddenly cracked and split open. Force Groups and rocks fell down into the abyss. The Resistors only managed to save themselves because they weren't being attacked by rocks as well… but there were a couple who slipped and fell, tumbling from sight. One of the enemy gripped the edge, fear in his eyes as he struggled to pull himself up and out. A particularly large rock jumped up and straight down on his head – some of the Resistors actually saw his life blink away before he dropped down into the black hole.

The earth rumbled again, and the crack widening and lengthing right towards Mac. He scrambled to get out the way, found himself too close to the wall, and tried to half climb it, half cling to it as the ground beneath his feet vanished. Ludo roared again. Mac slipped from his precarious hold down into the abyss.

Then, the world stopped. It was as if someone has pressed pause on a movie and everything suddenly ceased to move. Rocks hung in the air, Force Group people were frozen in action, some of them running from the rocks, others in mid-collision ultimately on their way to death. The Resistance groups, too were frozen, strange and almost funny looks on their face as they watched the terror around them. In fact, the only movement was Johnny bent over and breathing hard near an exit and Mac still hanging by one hand onto the edge of the crack in the ground, scrambling to keep hold.

"Well," a voice mocked right next to Johnny, "Aren't you going to save him?"

Johnny looked in disbelief at Jareth standing clear as day over him with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah, so you prefer him dead," Jareth said calmly at the moment of Johnny's hesitation.

"No!" Johnny bit out on a breath and stumbled towards Mac, "No, I'm saving him." There was an eerie silence as Johnny scrambled around and under the frozen scene until he reached Mac.

"What the fuck is happening?" Mac panted, struggling to get a foothold to save himself.

Johnny grabbed Mac's forearm and clothing to pull him up, "Jareth." And really, that explained it all. The strange silence continued as Johnny dragged Mac over the edge to safety and then they both lay panting staring up a boulder hanging above their heads. Despite how out of breath they were, they thought it prudent to move, especially with that bastard fey around who would do something so cruel as to let them live this long and kill them at the last second.

Johnny struggle to sit up to look at Jareth, expecting him to have vanished, but the blond man was still there. Then Jareth smiled. Johnny and Mac stared at him.

Time started again.

Every rock that hung in the air came crashing down and it seemed a number of them landed on the two men – none of the big boulders, but anything that was big enough to hurt and leave cuts and bruises without doing serious damage. The large boulder that had been above them when they were lying down smashed to pieces inches behind them. The noise started up again and over the top of it all came a rising whine from Ludo, who seemed to be in pain.

The smell of blood seemed to be thick in the air as Resistors found themselves surrounded by only dead Force Group people, cracks in the ground, and far too many rocks. Ludo whined again.

Johnny and Mac shook dust from their hair and wiped it from their faces before looking around to assess the damage. Though a couple were missing – having fallen into the dark abyss – no one remaining seemed to be hurt, at least-

"Johnny, Mac!" someone called, "Linda, she's… over here!"

Both men scrambled over rocks and saw Linda. The blood was still fresh on the ground with a cover of dust over the top, giving it a bleaker look than it already was.

"She's dead," the man who had called them over said, his fingers still lingering on the pulse point at the neck as if in hope that it would suddenly start beating again.

Mac knocked his hand away and checked for himself. After a moment, his fingers drifted up to her cheek and stroked the skin once.

"We have to tell Michael," he said quietly, knowing that the other Heart squad leader was going to be devastated, "We have to tell Tasha".

Johnny hissed to himself. How many more children would become orphaned before… before what? The war ended? They all died? Became slaves to the Superiors? He blinked away the fogginess in his mind and forced himself back to a more useful task, looking after the living. He started giving orders for looking after the wounded – a pair to check over Ludo who was still making pitiful noises, more to find out the safty of the hidden children, others to check security of the tunnels and to recover what they could from the area.

It took him a moment to notice Jareth standing right next to him staring at Linda's dead body. "Don't look at her," he spat at the fey.

Without blinking, Jareth's eyes shifted to look at the mortal, "Do not seek to order me. You owe me lives today. Without my creature you may have all died here, that or captured."

Johnny thought of Sarah, "We owe you nothing; we've already paid your price."

At that Jareth smirked, a slight tilting to the lips. He looked back at the dead woman and in one fluid motioned stepped towards her and knelt in her blood.

Johnny growled and shot forward to wrench the fey away from Linda. Mac grabbed his arm and jerked him back.

"Wait. Let him help."

Johnny resisted the urge to spit on the ground, to rip out the throat of the blond bastard. Help? Surely not even this _thing_ could bring someone back from the dead?

They watched as Jareth leaned forward, his white gold hair trailed forward over his shoulders and hid his face from the onlookers. He touched his lips to Linda's and breathed once. In, then out. A second time – in and out. When the third breath came and went, a soft breath passed across Linda's lips. The longer Jareth breathed, the more life slipped back into Linda, as if he was breathing for her, giving her back the ability to live. Her skin rosied from the ashen grey of death and her eyes fluttered as if her body was shivering from the impossible miracle happening.

"Jesus, what are you?" Johnny whispered as Linda opened her eyes. Alive. Wholly healed.

Jareth stared at him, his eyes darker, the pupils larger, "Some have called us gods and worshipped us. Others have named us demons of the darkest nature. We are the oldest and most knowledgeable of all living things. We are eternal. I am known as the Walker of Worlds; there is no dimension that can deny me entry." His cold eyes watched a bit of dust threatening to land on him and spoke softly, "Not even death."

There was a shimmering in the air – like intense heat shifting up – and the Freedom Fighters that had fallen down into the cracks appeared, a little worse for wear but alive. Jareth rose and stepped back before anyone could regain their composure, stunned as they were in the face of such power. It wasn't until Melinda and Michael came jogging through a tunnel that they snapped back to it.

"The children are safe for now," Melinda said, "I found Michael on our way here… what's going on...?" Both Michael and Melinda looked at the shocked faces.

Michael reached Linda's side and pulled his partner to her feet. "What happened?" he asked looking suspiciously at Jareth.

Linda shook her head, "Later. We have work here first, but I'm safe, I'm… alive."

Michael took her at her word silently but stayed protectively close.

"Let's go check on Ludo," Johnny suggested. They found a couple of woman with pliers working on the orange creature.

Mac parted the orange fur to look for the source of the pain. He now saw that where they had thought the bullets had bounced off Ludo, some of them had in actual fact lodged themselves in the flesh, though thankfully not too deep. He internally winced as he knew some of those bullets were probably from when the Freedom Fighters had first shot at him.

"Your creature. Ludo. Will he be all right?" Melinda asked.

Jareth didn't spare Ludo a glance, "He is one of mine. He will not die until I let him."

Ludo let out another pain-filled whine that had Melinda wincing. Mac had a pair of pliers and was trying to remove most of the bullets as best he could and stop the blood flow. She choose her words and tone carefully, "Are you going to let him die?"

Jareth gave a deliberate smirk meant to unnerve. "Not yet. Sarah has agreed to the deal but has yet to uphold her end of the bargain. Should she renege then he can die, They can both die" he said looking at Linda. "It will let you know that my protection is no longer offered."

There was a short silence and they all wondered why the fey was hanging around them this long. No doubt he enjoyed their plight.

"We need to find somewhere new," Mac brought to light their new problem, "Our hideout has been discovered."

"Where? The tunnels are the only place we can hide in Seattle," Melinda said.

"The tunnels are large enough that we can find a new place for a time, we'll just have to keep moving around so the Force Groups don't find us," Mac suggested. It was careless of us to stay in one place for as long as we did.

Michael shook his head, "We have too many people to constantly pack up all the time, especially with children."

"Perhaps we can split into smaller groups, hide in different parts of the city. Each of the four teams can take some people," Mac said, "at least that way if this happens again we won't all be discovered.

"What about you?" Michael looked at Jareth. So far he had had little interaction with the strange man and felt no real fear towards the King, though he had a healthy dose of respect for the power the blond man obviously had. "Part of our deal was to keep us safe. To help us survive."

Jareth nodded, "So it was."

Everyone suddenly felt a falling sensation and the world spun for a moment. When everyone could see straight again, they found that the entire population of free people still left in Seattle in the one place in an enormous cavern with many tunnels leading out.

"What is this place?" Linda asked. They had searched out every inch of the tunnels and had never seen anything like this.

It was the Seattle underground tunnel… yet not. It couldn't be – a soft moss seemed to be covering certain areas and the further they went in the more they found green vegetation. Against one section of the wall there shimmered a lake of clear water.

"I've blurred the edges between my world and yours. Just enough to have powerful shields protecting this area. It should be enough to house all your people, the few of them that are left."

There was also movement darting around the pool and the flowers that were there.

"Are… are those fairies?" Linda asked in awe as one of the things stopped long enough in front of her for her to get a look at it.

Jareth raised an eyebrow mockingly and watched with amusement as the mortal reached out a hand to touch one. The tiny creature darted forward and gave her a good hard nip. "Ouch!" Linda cried and snatched back her hand, "it bit me!"

Jareth smirked and had a slight faraway look in his eyes as if remembering something. "What did you expect fairies to do?" he drawled.

"I don't know. Grant wishes?"

He shook his head mournfully "Where do you mortals get your ideas from? Next, you'll be expecting things to be fair." He chuckled at some private joke.

"This is incredible," Linda whispered to herself, but then it didn't hurt to say a few polite words. "Thank you" she turned to Jareth, not quite sure what to address him as, "Thank you for this."

He stared emotionlessly at her for a moment, then drawled, "If you want to show your gratitude, I prefer my subject on their knees and you shall address me as my lord. After all," he smirked, "you are my subjects under my protection. Now I must leave." He looked at Johnny. "Sarah and I have a bargain to seal."

Jareth disappeared in a show of light and glitter before Johnny could respond. Johnny's anger changed to look quizzically at the spot where Jareth dematerialized, noting that not all of the glitter had disappeared with the man; he bent down to inspect the sparkling stuff. It shimmered on his fingers and sent a tingling sensation up his arm, "Don't suppose we can analyze this stuff do you?"

Mac grinned, "This is the 21st century, we can do anything."

It was Linda who pointed out their more immediate problem. "Which part of Seattle are we in exactly?"


	9. Ch9: Bargains

Chapter 9: Bargains, Compromises and Ultimatums

Fear gripped Sarah as she fell and her chest felt like it was trying to splinter out of her body so it wouldn't be crushed in the landing. Then she kept falling and falling and falling, and slowly the terror receded until she wondered if it wasn't her that was falling down but the world that was falling up. More time passed and she kept falling through the widespread darkness – perhaps she was Alice and she had fallen down the rabbit hole. Maybe Jareth was somehow responsible for that story. That was something she could believe. Jareth had a thing for terrorizing young girls.

After a while, Sarah slowly began to enjoy the falling sensation. It was sort of like flying.

When an endless time had passed, Sarah realized that this trap of Jareth had more serious consequences than what she had originally thought. She felt a distant need to go to the toilet, the darkness was starting to annoy her, and the constant free-falling feeling was no longer slightly exciting but slightly sickening to her stomach, as if she had spun around too fast for too long. She wasn't sure just how long Jareth was going to leave her here.

More time passed and just like a loud dripping tap, everything was starting to drive her insane. The blackness around her was impossibly starting to choke her as if there was little air to breath and her distant need to pee was becoming immediate. Her tailbone, which she had bruised landing the other day, was really beginning to ache and her worry that Jareth might not come to her was becoming a frightening reality. _They had a deal! When was he coming for her?_

Sarah suddenly got the fright of her life when she landed on something soft and slightly bouncy. Blinking into the bright light after a time of only darkness, she saw Jareth leaning over her while she laid on the bed back in the room he had captured her in.

"Did you like my little trap?" he asked with that smirk on his face.

Sarah was torn between slapping the bastard and thanking him for finally pulling her from that dark place when he could have just left her there. Instead she just lay there.

"Well, at least you took my suggestion and had a bath. You are much more presentable now." His eyes flickered in appreciation over her body and Sarah knew that he wanted to pick up where they left off.

"Wait," Sarah held out a hand to hold him back remembering how Jareth liked to play his games, "Before we go any further I want to know the details of this deal. I want to know exactly what we're gaining and what we're not before we go any further."

"A reasonable request," he drawled.

Sarah blushed red as she remembered a pressing need, "But there is one thing first."

Jareth arched an eyebrow.

"I have to use the ladies room."

Sarah fled and Jareth's soft laughter sent shivers up her spine.

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It took Sarah a lot of courage to return back to the bedroom. She just knew that Jareth would have a smug, amused grin on his face. He did so love to humiliate her. However, when she entered the room she found Jareth's face devoid of anything; he merely pulled out a chair for her near a table that had tea and dry biscuits sitting on a tray. Sarah sat cautiously and tried not to flinch when his hand brushed against her hair. Jareth gracefully sat down in the opposite chair.

"You wish to discuss the deal."

Sarah nodded and looked dubiously at her tea. She didn't put it past him to try something, so she left the cup where it was despite how thirsty she was. She discarded the idea of eating the biscuits as well.

"I know your terms for the deal, you want me to sleep with you. But what is it that you're offering us?"

Jareth leaned forward on the table, his fingers steepling before him, "I will not win this war for you. I will not heal every bruise and cut. I will not save every life. I will simply do enough so that your people can survive. The Force Groups surrounded many of your people so I simply prevented them from dying. If your people starve that is of no concern to me, but if they begin to die from starvation then I will provide enough food to bring them back from the brink. If the Force Groups attack you en mass, then I will step in. If you attack them first, I will not. Make no mistake in this Sarah, as long as there is a chance of survival on your own I will do nothing.

_But I will not let you die._

He didn't say it, but Sarah heard it nonetheless. She frowned, trying to see around his words. On one hand, it seemed like he was being a right bastard and doing nothing unless he absolutely had to – but on the other hand he was offering so much. "It seems like you're giving us a lot in return."

"Don't place such a low price on yourself."

She blushed hotly, "I'm not," she snapped out, then took a deep breath, "but knowing you as I do, there has to be something more that you're getting out of this besides me."

Jareth seemed to contemplate her for a moment, "I have my own reasons for interfering in the plans of the Superiors, and who knows… perhaps your people will come to see me as a savior – as their king – and become true subjects of my realm. One can never have too many slaves."

Sarah scowled at him, but let it slide. She had another important question, "And me? How are you going to treat me?"

Jareth leaned back in his chair, "As long as you do not… defy me, Sarah, I will endeavor not to harm you."

"That's not much of a reassurance."

"It's as much as I can give. This is war, Sarah, sacrifices must be made. Risks must be taken."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"How do I know you're going to honour your side of the bargain?" Sarah blurted out.

"You don't," he took a sip from his tea.

"Then you and your deal can go screw yourselves," she said in a fit of frustration, half rising from her chair.

"I'd rather take you," he shot back.

She reined in the scream of frustration that threatened to come out, but could not stop herself from standing and turning her back on him. She knew it was the wrong thing to do immediately and spun back around, but the damage had already been done.

He was in that classic pose, the one she remembered most clearly; he held a crystal ball in one hand, a regal stance and an almost bored, disinterested face. Any moment now he was going to offer her her dreams in return for a high price.

But if there was one constant about Jareth, it was that he was unpredictable.

"It is true, Sarah, that you may refuse our deal. I will send you back to your city and you may fight you war _and you will lose. _That aside, while you were discovering my trap I was generous enough to help your people as they were attacked by the enemy."

Sarah gasped and a hand shot to her throat as if to try and steady the lump of fear that had appeared there.

"Some were injured beyond what their mortal bodies could stand, Ludo was shot many times, and if it wasn't for my magic, many would be dead right now." Jareth turned the crystal slightly and Sarah watched a scene act out in horror and then amazement as Jareth healed Linda. Suddenly the crystal popped and Jareth snapped his hand closed. "I have given them a haven, Sarah, a sanctuary where the enemy cannot trespass. If you back out of our deal now I _will_ take back all that I have given."

"It's a trick," she whispered, "you've shown me lies."

At that, Jareth's temper broke. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her sharply. "You little fool!" he spat violently, "I show mercy to your pathetic mortals and you insult me by calling me a liar!" He shoved her onto the bed so that she fell frighteningly backwards and paced away from her as if he had to expend some of his angry energy or hit her.

Sarah felt tense with the danger in the air and stayed frozen where she had fallen. She barely dared to take a breath. She knew she had a do something to diffuse the situation before something worse happened. Jareth was a being of terrible power.

"I-I'm sorry," she stuttered.

Jareth froze in mid-pace and glared at her with cold eyes, "Sorry? Spoken apologies mean nothing to me, Sarah."

Sick to her stomach, Sarah struggled to move her body into a sitting position on the end of the bed, "I-I'll make the deal. Everything we spoke about. I agree. I'll s-sleep with you."

"Will you Sarah?" he mocked harshly, "will you offer your body to me? One could almost say that you have already backed out on our deal – what were you doing trying to leave this room?"

Sarah stuttered for an answer, "I-I was just… I didn't think-"

"I should just let your friends die now."

"No!"

"Then you agree to our deal then? Completely?"

"Yes," she hung her head. She couldn't look at him. Didn't want to see herself in his eyes.

He stepped closer to her. "Any way I wish?" he hissed, "maybe I want to rip the clothes from your body and take you without a moment of preparation. Maybe I want you to scream in pain as I rip though you as dry and tight as you can be." He leaned over her so that their hair lay softly against one another, white on black. "Maybe I want to take your arse from behind, shoot my seed deep into your gut, make you tear. Make you bleed. Is that what you want Sarah? Is that what you will give me?"

She was shaking. Her mouth was dry. She couldn't say yes. She didn't want the pain. She didn't want him to hurt her. Sarah flinched as one gloved finger ran softly down her cheek and caught the single tear that had slipped from her eyes.

"Maybe that's what I want," he whispered, "but maybe I don't." He pulled away from her and straightened up. "In one hour I will return. You will either forfeit our deal or you will seal it. Show me you're sorry by making a choice, Sarah. Stop procrastinating and decide."

Then, he was gone.

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There was a spark in Toby that flared in teenage glory as he sat on a chair up high on deck, clearly lording it over everyone. Usually he wasn't so narcissistic – he preferred order and respect rather than silly shows of class – but the fox… dog… whatever the hell it was had thrown him off balance. He_ felt_ childish, he _felt_ rebellious, and worst of all, he felt petulant. It was a very dangerous combination that shattered his control. The whole ship he was currently on could feel it in the air and had been treading lightly. Thank Sarah, it hadn't spread out to the rest of the fleet – then he might have a mutiny on his hands.

Things had just gone from bad to worse once the man had choked on his own blood. Sir Didymus – Sweet Sarah, the thing had knighted itself – had had the audacity to lecture him (or was it rant at him?) on his actions and how dishonourable it was not to give the criminal a swift, clean death, despite his crimes.

Really, he wanted to kill the furball.

But that would be dishonourable…

…And he was just so intrigued by it! An animal that could talk, hold an intelligent conversation, argue and appeal to the common human sense (that might have been a little debatable though). How could he not believe the tales of 'The Underground' that Sir Didymus came from when proof of the land was right in front of him – walking and talking! What other strange things came from this land? Was it possible to get there? Other than a brief overview, Sir Didymus had been reluctant to offer any details. His mission, the fox had said, was to protect Toby. Who had given him the mission, he would not say.

However, Toby had time and could wait until the fox revealed more on his own. Admittedly, he could just torture the information out of the mini-knight, but the men had taking quite a liking to the "steed" – Ambrosis – in the last twenty-four hours, and some twisted logic said that that meant no torturing of talking foxes.

"Pardon me, Captain Toby," the fox's voice broke through Toby's thoughts, "but I've been meaning to ask. Where art thou destination?"

Toby looked down at the creature. It truly was amazing, "Seattle."

Sir Didymus was silent for a moment. Clearly the fox had no idea where the city was and Toby wasn't inclined to inform him in his current mood. Toby didn't even look at the creature when it cleared its throat.

"And how long until we arrive?"

"A couple of months?"

"Months!" the voice proclaimed, "But we must arrive there within weeks!"

Quite a few people on board partly drew knifes and hand guns at the shouting towards their captain. Toby gave a slight hand signal to settle them down. He eyed Sir Didymus carefully. What secrets were about to be divulged?

"It will take us weeks," Toby assured, "around eight of them."

"No, no!" Sir Didymus looked up at Toby with sparkling eyes. "We must arrive there within the fortnight!"

"Even if we wanted to, we can't. We simply cannot travel that fast. Besides, what could be so important?"

But Sir Didymus wasn't listening, "Ambrosius! Ambrosius! Come out now and assist me!"

There was a whine and then the little mutt scampered out from wherever it had taken hiding to.

"Ambrosius, call now. Call out for them now."

Toby rose from his chair and watched, a sense of excitement strumming through his blood. Something great was about to happen, he could feel it.

The little dog howled. Once, twice, three times out across the sea. The sounds skipped along the waves and tumbled down into the water.

There was barely a moment's wait. The water dipped down slightly before spiraling up in a massive, thick column of sea water and foam – dark blues, green, and a striking white rushing dizzyingly upwards. The entire water pillar must have been at least thirty meters across and hundred meters high. Strangest of all, the surface of the ocean around it remained as calm as still waters – the ships didn't even shift in the slightest other than the usual dip and sway of a calm ocean.

Sir Didymus swept off his hat and bowed low at the waist, "Greetings to thee, sea guardian. The waters of your world are empires over the land kingdoms."

The voice that spoke was feminine and light, but for all that held a slice of death, "Your kind are not welcomed here, diplomat. Return to your king."


	10. Ch10: Something New

Chapter 10: Something new, Something old, Something borrowed, Something… that glitters?

The Boss smoothed a finger down silky texture of his whip as he listened to the report on the latest attack against the Resistance Group. They had obviously made a deal with something that had powers similar to that of the Superiors. He was now grateful that he had followed his instincts and sent watchers out to report back to him what happened. Where had those resistors vanished to with the blond man? It was a problem but he was sure it would sort itself out in the end. He didn't have the solution yet, but it would show itself eventually.

"I want you to gather a group together and search the sewers," the Boss ordered.

"How can we be sure they'll still be there?" asked the man who had given him the report.

Smart questions were to be encouraged. "They will be," he was sure of it, "and you're not searching for them exactly. You'll need people with strong internal instincts. They'll need to be on the lookout for somewhere that feels wrong. A tunnel that seems darker than others. A door they can't open. Anything that seems off. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. You are free to leave."

Soon after the man had left the Boss headed out of the room to check on Dusk, his new pet. As he approached the cage, he smiled as the snake recognized him; hissing and glaring, daring him to come closer so it could bite and sink venom into him until his veins burst with poison. He loved it already.

"Yi" he beckoned the teenage servant forward from the shadows, "has Doctor Karakis finished his report?"

"No, my lord," she spoke quietly and without inflection, her voice remaining as emotionless as her face. "He has determined the sex as female and that she has the basic structure of any snake. However, scans of the brains have revealed highly developed gyri and sulci for a reptile. He is currently analyzing the venom and hopes to develop anti-venom."

The Boss nodded. It would be wise to have an antidote created in case he himself got bitten. The developed folds on the brain scientifically proved the intelligence he saw in the eyes of Dusk. He stroked the leather of his whip.

"I want you to give Doctor Karakis appropriate encouragement. I want his full report as quickly as possible," he ordered.

Yi bowed her head and faded back in the shadows.

As soon as The Boss felt the absence of the servant in the room, he pulled a small slim plastic box from a concealed pocket. With his other hand he let the whip looped at his waist unravel like a black shiny snake itself. Pressing a button on the remote, the electronic lock on the cage slid open and the door swung open on greased hinges. There was a moment when Dusk flickered out her forked tongue, testing the change.

Then she struck.

If adrenaline hadn't already started burning through his veins he would have been too slow.

The fangs slicked with saliva flashed towards him. He flicked the whip, letting it curl tightly around the thick neck of the reptile before yanking it and the snake's head down towards the ground. She resisted, but could not stop her head smacking heavily into the floor. The body twisted and curled towards her head protectively, but the tail whipped towards him.

The Boss stuck out a hand to catch the end of the snake, but the scales were more slippery than what he assumed and it slid from his grasp, slapping him across the face. He saw stars for a moment but reacted quick enough to wrench his head back before the tiny venomous spikes along the spine scratched him as the tail twisted for a more dangerous strike.

He felt a tug on his arm holding the whip and knew Duck was seconds from struggling free. The tail came at him again and in order to duck under he had to release the whip's grip around Dusk's shifted the angle of his duck so that he could slide up behind the snake. Snapping the whip, it wrapped viciously around Dusk's tail before she could flick it again at him.

Sensing her head free and her tail caught, Dusk twisted her body to look for her prey before striking towards him with her fangs again. She was going to kill him.

Kill him.

But he was ready for her. He didn't flinch in elbowing her right in the eye and then punching and pushing her head down to the ground. Keeping a strong grip on his whip, he swung his legs over her so that he straddled her neck just behind the head of the monstrous snake.

Keeping his calves tightly clasping behind the head, he quickly threaded the whip and caught tail between his legs and sat back down so now he had both the whip and his own weight keeping the tail from attacking him. For an exhausting time Dusk thrashed beneath him, struggling desperately to get free and kill him. With sweat rolling down his back and face and dripping onto the scales beneath him, he waited her out. Even with intoxicating adrenaline he admired the glittering scales under the lights. Slowly, she struggled less, the thrashing became less powerful and she lay still beneath him.

They sat like that for long minutes. He let himself bond to her. Eventually, he unraveled the whip from the tail. When it gave even the slightest flicker of rebellion he squeezed his knees into the neck in warning. It was longer still when he let the tail slip and slither from between his legs and back onto the floor.

By the time he was satisfied, he lead her back to the cage with a guiding hand behind her head. He knew tomorrow she would fight him again. Today was but one battle.

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"So Tessa, what's the report?" Mac asked hours later. Tessa was the local mad scientist, slightly eccentric but completely brilliant. A real life genius. Her once glorious red hair had now dulled and white was starting to show, but her personality still shone as bright as ever.

"It's definitely not glitter," she explained to the Resistant Group leaders, "Each piece is a single celled organism." Her mind was in a wonder of the substance that the fey had left behind in his wake. All of the resistance leaders had gathered for this report when Tessa had sent the word that she had incredible news to share.

"It's alive?" Johnny asked in awe.

"Everything points that way, yet I'm not convinced it actually is. Stranger still, it changes its composition everytime it's put into a new environment, not really evolving… more like a chameleon only instead of changing colour, it changes molecular structure.

"My god…" Many of the leaders sat down heavily. Tessa, still caught up in her excitement, barely noticed. What she wouldn't give to have some of the fey's DNA to look at. Some skin or hair. Blood would be better.

"Remember the stem cell research that was being done a few years back before the Superiors blew up the labs?"

Linda's forehead creased while remembering, "Yeah, cells in the body that could become any specific cell once it had the right genetic sequence."

"That's right, well this stuff is exactly like that except it's dealing with molecules, well that's my theory, and it isn't only limited to living things but inanimate objects as well. That's what tells me its not exactly alive, and it does it in seconds. Whatever this stuff is, it's not like anything else we've ever come across. It doesn't even come under any categories - how do you classify something that isn't alive or dead, neither mineral nor water or anything else, yet seems to be all those things as once?

"That's magic for you I guess. Is there anyway you can manipulate it?"

"I'll see what I can do, but I'm going totally from scratch here," she gave all leaders a look, "besides you've only just given me an hour so far. It's a wonder that I've gotten this much. I can tell you nothing on earth resembles it, there's nothing I can use to point me in a direction. It's going to take days before I can tell you something definite."

"Do your best."

"I always do." Tessa appeared a little miffed at the implication, but she quickly had her mind on other things. "Did you know that wonderful king guy transported all my equipment when we moved. Isn't he wonderful?" Tessa rushed off back to her lab.

The leaders shook their head at the sudden subject change and quick departure.

"Wonderful is one word for him," Johnny muttered.

"Johnny, have you organized the rest of the transportation from the old lair?" Michael asked to redirect the Spade leader's thoughts away from the fey.

"I have. Ideally it's going to take a couple of days, but with the attack we have to be on the lookout for the Force Groups in the tunnels. It's probably going to take a week or two. That's also on the proviso that the Force Groups don't confiscate any of our equipment. I've got teams working as fast and as safely as possible."

"Good. Mac?"

"We've sent out scouts to check out the rest of our new lair," Mac said, nodding at Melinda to include her, "it's a lot larger than we first thought. The section we first entered into is only a small entry cavern. From there it's a labyrinth of tunnels, some leading to smaller rooms we can use as storage and private rooms, up to much larger caverns we can use for training. We've got a couple people working on mapping out the whole joint."

"There's clean, drinkable water and we're seeing if any of the limited vegetation is edible," Melinda said, "There's just two things that concern me. Those damn biting fairies and the fact that the entry cavern is the only entry into the sanctuary. Jareth might say that this area is protected by him, but how can we be sure? What happens if that protection fails or is breeched? We need another alternative.

Michael nodded, "Alright, I want Club division working on security. Work with the Diamond division to find another way out of here. Dig up, dig down, and dig across. I don't care. Let's see if we can safeguard those tunnels that lead into the entry cavern, and set up an early warning system. Those fairies aren't my most immediate concern; though I'll have Tessa put a few people on it. We should keep the children away from them. They're a nuisance at the moment, but I wouldn't want to see them attack in a pack"

"Perhaps we can see if we can eat them," Linda said a little too seriously. "This brings us to our main problem. Whether we can eat the vegetation here or not, there's simply not enough food to last us for much longer. At best we can last for about three weeks. Also medical supplies are almost non-existent. We need to plan an attack on a Superior storage facility."

Melinda shook her head, "Their storages are too well defended. They know that if we can't get to their food and meds it's one more way to kill us off."

Linda linked her hands together, "I know, but our spies report that there is a shipment of supplies arriving in two weeks – food, meds, especially penicillin and antibiotics, as well as blankets and some weapons. If we can intercept that I believe it will last us for months, maybe even a year. Two weeks time is cutting our supplies almost to none, but I believe the payoff would be worth it."

"The Superiors' powers always have been poorer around near the oceans," Johnny mused, "I've only ever seen fledging Force Groups on guard at the piers. Security will be less trained, but they may have greater numbers to accommodate for the fact."

"Hopefully we'll be getting more intel soon. We'll start planning in detail tomorrow." Michael concluded their meeting.

"Johnny," Mac called to him as the other left. Johnny spun back around towards him, waiting until the others were gone.

Mac sighed and leaned back against the wall. He was so tired and he was still filthy from the battle, dust and grit in his eyes. Johnny didn't look much better. "You may have to take a new partner."

Johnny blinked. "What?"

"When Sarah closes the deal, we can't be sure that she'll return here. Even if she does, we can't rely on her to always be available to complete her duties. Jareth doesn't strike me as the type to leave her alone for long. You need to think about who you want as another partner. Someone who can lead the Spades Division."

"This is bullshit, Mac. I-"

"Dammit Johnny, this is not up for discussion."

"You can't be pulling rank on me!"

"I am. You will find someone to replace her or I will replace you."

"You son of a bitch!" Johnny took a swing at Mac, but it was fueled out of rage. Mac quickly side-stepped his fist, grabbed his wrist and twisted it up behind Johnny's back as he shoved the Spade leader face first into the wall.

"Listen!" Mac hissed in his ear, using his greater weight to hold the other man in place. "Listen! We've been dying down here in the sewers. The Superiors were going to win. Whoever, whatever Jareth is, he's given us hope. He's given me hope. For the first time I can believe that one day we might get back the freedom we used to have.

Johnny continued to struggle.

Mac shoved him harder against the wall to try and knock some sense into him, "Don't let Sarah's sacrifice become worthless. We all need you to lead. We need to get back into the light and it's going to take all of us to do it. Sarah paid her part of the price, we have to pay ours."

"It's so fucking unfair!" Johnny's voice cracked as he swore. His whole body shuddered with frustration and grief. His breath caught on a sob, and all his strength left him. Mac immediately felt the change and went from restraining Johnny to holding him up.

No tears fell but Johnny couldn't stop himself from shaking.

"You loved her," Mac said quietly.

Johnny shook his head.

"I love her."

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There was a rumble in the distance that sounded like thunder. Linda frowned, "I didn't think there was a storm coming."

"There's not meant to be," Michael replied.

Ludo, who had been sleeping in a corner up till now recovering from his wounds, suddenly lifted his head and let out a call similar to what he had to call the rocks. The leaders stiffened. Were the force groups coming back? Had Jareth lied to them about the safety of this place?

The far off thunder continued and then a haunting sound traveled up though the sewers. It was almost like Ludo's call echoing back at him, but this one was much deeper.

Michael took a step towards the Ludo who was by now very awake. "Ludo? What's going on?"

Ludo grinned that very frightening grin. "Ludo's friends. Ludo's family.

"Oh crap," Linda whispered.

"Is this a good thing?" Michael asked to no one in particular.

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Jareth appeared in Sarah's room in all his glory, well over an hour late. What had the bastard been up to?

"Well?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

Sarah gritted her teeth. "I accept."

He held out his gloved hand.

"Come here."


	11. Ch11: Within Darkness

Chapter 11: Within Darkness.

Sarah felt years younger as she stepped towards Jareth, but it was not in a good way. She felt fifteen again, back in_ that_ ballroom. She felt confused and trembled inside knowing that she wasn't in control and she didn't know what to do about it. She could even hear eerie music and lyrics swirling just within the limits of hearing.

_From the darkest kaos from beyond this time  
I shall free my wings as our souls align  
Mortal barriers are falling in crippling time  
In the moonlighting darkness, the garden divine  
For invoking the dark, and the blood of its Lord_

For a moment she closed her eyes, not sure if she was trying to listen harder to catch the notes, or to shut her senses off. A stir of something neither hot, nor cold, spun around her like a devil wind and raised goosebumps on the back of her neck. She hissed softly through her teeth at the sensation and her eyes shot back open.

The light in the room was fading, dimming and then all but gone out except for a single candle in a corner. The white walls faded with the light and then blurred and disappeared until there was nothing surrounding the room but endless darkness spilling back. A deep sense of wrongness clutched at Sarah's stomach and knotted her intestines. She felt as if she were in a horror film and at any moment the murderer would reach out of the darkness and slash at her. But there was only Jareth standing with the shadows flickering against his pale skin. She looked into his eyes and they seemed to glint in the candle light. One iris blue, one iris green… or was one brown and the other grey? Straining to see through the dim light, she stepped closer to get a better look. She had to know what colour his eyes were, it seemed like the most important thing in the world. "What are you doing to me?" Her voice seemed an echo away, not hers at all.

"Sometimes the magick of my world taken on a personality of its own; often curious, often deadly, but always addictive… Seductive."

Yes, Sarah thought, it was exactly like a drug. She felt light headed and disembodied but at the same time all her senses seemed heightened. The flickering of the one candle was too bright, the shadows jumped too sharply, the darkness too thick. Strangely – or did it make more sense – Jareth himself was blurred like a watercolour painting of grey and silver swirls. "Why is it here?" she whispered.

"Because I am here."

"This is making no sense."

Those pale lips of his tilted up at one corner. It really was fascinating to watch, to see the skin of his lips stretch while the corner of his mouth creased in two curved lines. She was distracted from watching his mouth when a cup was raised up between their faces. One of Jareth's pale hands held the stem and she stared at his fingers. When had he taken off his gloves?

"Drink this, it will help."

Sarah stared confused at the goblet, red liquid rippling in towards the middle as if someone was tapping the side of it. When had he gotten that? She cupped her hands around the head of the goblet. Jareth's hand remained curled around the stem so she was forced to take another stop towards him until they were an inch apart so that she could drink. They both lifted it towards Sarah's mouth and she sipped at it first. It coated her lips and tongue. The drink was warm and thick, and as she swallowed it, it was at first tangy with a sweet aftertaste. Her tongue came out to swipe the rest from her lips. Her focus was so great on the taste in her mouth and the promise of more from the cup that she didn't see Jareth taste his own lips in an exact mirror replica of her own.

"Drink the rest," Jareth's voiced urged.

"What is it going to do?" She probably should have asked that before she sipped it. Sarah frowned. Were those words she just spoke slurred? Her tongue felt thick and furry. She swallowed to get rid of the feeling and the remenants of the liquid in her mouth slid down her throat. "Is it wine?"

"Drink it," and this time his hand pushed the goblet towards her. She followed his lead and this time drank hungily, her throat moving beneath delicate skin. She drank until there was no more to be had.

"Wh-?" She tried to asked again but her mouth wouldn't form any words, only her throat releasing sounds.

_It shall punish the weak with its bestial sword  
The innocent blood sacrificed in the night  
Within darkness comes rapture in beautiful sight  
Feel the midnight's pull  
The answers to darkness and dreams in full  
_

The goblet dropped from between them to lay silent and forgotten on the floor. Jareth's knuckles lightly skimmed her cheek, as softly as a summer breeze. So soft, yet Sarah tilted her head back in reaction. Fingers spread over her chin, just brushing at her lips before moving down her neck. The touch increased in pressure as they cupped her throat, a thumb on one side to catch her pulse while the fingers splayed on the other. He could have easily choked her. All he had to do was squeeze.

"It hightens touch, lowers inhibition. Part sedative, part aphrodisiac. That is the power of a fey's blood."

The thumb pushed up against the pulse of blood at her throat and Sarah whimpered. Was it out of fear or shuddering lust that was spreading from her throat outwards? Her heart was beating too fast, her lips slighty parted with short low pants and her whole body felt tired and weak. Her legs trembled, her head wouldn't lift back up, her arms stayed dangling by her sides.

Jareth's warmth was almost too much when he breathed across her ear, "If you want more, you'll have to tear my flesh open for it."

_God, that sounded so good…_

His tongue traced the outer shell of her ear and that was it. Her legs buckled and she fell against him. For one dizzying moment Sarah thought he was going to let her fall so that she knelt in front of him. However, Jareth's other arm whipped around her back and pinned her so that her weight sagged against his length. The hand slid from her throat to slide under her legs so that he could pick her up. He carried Sarah to the bed and lay her down.

When he finally took her the pleasure was so white hot that she bit his should, hard enough to break the skin and taste the sweet blood underneath. Whatever came after that was lost in a dark haze.

_And my flesh anointing tribute to the proud  
In a breath from an everless nightfalll enshadowed thee  
Fore I am forever as eternity chants its chivalty  
As a silhouette in the night  
Not of this world of within sunlight  
Fore only as eternity unfolds  
Lie the secret within a funeral toll**_

And in the space that crosses sleeping and the unconscious Sarah let go of many dreams. Dreams of a true love that held her tenderly and woke her in the morning with a soft kiss. Dreams of children that chased each other around her and hugged her tightly with innocent joy. Dreams of writing for a living, allowing the world access to her imagination as she told stories in dazzling words. Dreams of having her brother, Toby, by her side, of smelling his sunshined dried hair and hearing him call her name. Dreams of things that she had always wanted, things that she held close to her heart.

Things that she knew she could never have now.

Even the hope of it was gone; all swallowed up within the darkness.

**The Slaughter of Innocence, a Requiem for the Mighty .com/song_lyrics/hecate_enthroned/the_slaughter_of_innocence_a_requiem_for_the_mighty/the_slaughter_of_innocence_a_requiem_for_the_mighty/

A/N: Chapter has been edited. Full version found in . See profile for more details.


	12. Ch12: Moments

Chapter 12: Moments

"I can't do it."

"What? Why not?"

"There is no way I'm putting that thing in my mouth. It's sickening just to think about it."

"Then don't think about it. Just open your mouth and-"

"Yew!"

"-bite down."

"Bite down! It's going to be all quishy on the outside and crunchy on the in."

"Then just swallow it whole!"

"That's even worse!"

"What are you two talking about!" Mac demanded as he saw Linda and Melinda each facing each other with determined looks. Well, Melinda had a more disgusted determined look.

"She wants me to try and eat one of those biting fairies," the Diamonds leader said.

Linda looked affronted, "I even cooked it."

Mac blanched a little and stared at the Hearts leader who currently had a plate in her hands with a lump that was charred enough that it curled up.

"It has little hearts and lungs and bones!" wailed Melinda.

Mac stared some more.

"So do fish!" argued Linda

"It's a mini human!"

"No, it's not. Given enough of a chance they'd take a bite out of us.

"I refuse to eat it."

"Fine. Starve then."

Linda turned to other Diamonds leader. "Mac? You try it."

"Oh hell no!" Mac threw up his hands in defence before spinning on his heel and getting as far away as possible.

"Big baby!" Linda called out after him.

Melinda watched her partner run away leaving her to battle against eating little humans alone. She peered at Linda. "If you think it's so good, why don't you eat it?"

Linda looked down at the plate in her hands. "But it might be poisousous. I don't want to die."

JS JS JS JS JS JS

Toby stood, as the rest of the crew, transfixed by what he was seeing. This was impossible. This was magick. The sea guardian, a huge tower of continuous spiraling water leaned forward as if to dash itself upon the ship and smash it to bits. "Go back to the Underground" it hissed at Sir Didymus.

Toby did not think the fox had one ounce of fear it its body – either that or no sense – for it did not shiver at all in his bowed position.

"My lady guardian, thank thee for heeding our call" he said as if his mortality had not just been threatened.

The guardian straightened up. "My breathern could not believe an Underground species had the audacity to come here. I came to seek the truth for us all. I will send your body back to your king with lungs still gurgling on sweet salty water."

In a moment, Toby could see that Sir Didymus was about to die. The sea guardian was going to be as merciless as the whole ocean herself in taking life. In a moment Toby knew that he had to step in. Despite the unsettlement Sir Didymus has brought with him, Toby had never felt so alive as he did now in the presence of… magick.

The sea guardian twitched just before it moved to attack.

"Wait!"

The sea guardian stopped and though it had no eyes Toby knew that he was being watched.

"Wait" he repeated, "I… I, um…" Toby was at a lost. What could he say?

"Toby," the guardian breathed and the captain's breath caught in his throat. It knew his name. "I know you. The ocean knows you. Your tears have mixed with our waters, your blood has passed through our blood. I know you, sea child, for you walk upon our waves as lions walk on land.

Toby's mouth opened to say something – anything – but nothing came out. What did a man say to something like that?

The guardian suddenly stilled, something had caught its attention.

"You have luck today ambassador, the tide of this war has just shifted. I will help you arrive to your shore with speed."

Sir Didymus bowed at the waist. "Thank you, my lady. You are truly generous."

The guardian hissed at him. "It is not because of you and your pretty words that we do this. Nor because of any illusions of power that your king has. We do this for our child. For Tobias."

"Uh… thanks," Toby finally managed to say.

The sea guardian continued, "Soon he will leave our protection and venture on land once again. But not before we show the worlds that he is ours."

Toby had a sinking feeling in his stomach. He looked at Sir Didymus.

"It is a great honour," Sir Didymus looked back at him. "Do not be afraid."

"Afraid?"

But that was all Toby could ask before he heard the screams of his people and then he was swept away and drowning in sea water.

JS JS JS JS JS JS

Charlie sat in the servants mess hall eating an late dinner scarfing down as much as he could. Earlier today had set his stomach to rot when he had thought one of the Superiors had smelt the Underground on him. He thought he had been caught, but the Superior had only being talking metaphorically. It had taken effort not to react at the time and he hadn't eaten much since as a result.

Going to sleep soon was going to be a problem. His king was up to something. Something big. Charlie could feel it through his link to the Undergound and subsequently his king. The feeling hadn't left him either, something bigger was coming and it bothered him that he didn't know what was going on.

It seemed so long ago that his king had come for him and requested that Charlie served him. Requested? Ha! If he recalled correctly the bastard had kidnapped him and forced his will to get his way. Damn fey. They just didn't understand how not to get their way. Spoilt brats the lot of them. A sweet pang of sorrow tightened at his throat at what might have been if it hadn't been for Jareth. There were times he hated the Goblin King. He wished he could kill him.

Charlie took a deep breath. There was more at stake here than his feelings.

He needed to become a personal servant to one of the Superiors. He needed to become part of the inner circle to learn their secrets. Despite the fact that servants died often around the place, personal servants to the Superiors did not. They were specially trained and while they could be often beaten, the Superiors had methods to ensure they did not die.

Charlie looked over at their table and saw the four personal servants of the Superiors. They always ate together and they always ate separately from the general riffraff. How was he to infiltrate that without loosing his life?

One of the two female personal servants then looked up and caught his eye. She looked him over and then smiled.

Charlie flashed a charming and inviting grin back.

JS JS JS JS JS JS

Sarah woke to the rough kisses being pressed along the side of her neck and then trailing down to her shoulders. Jareth's warm body pushed from behind her and she arched into his touch

She was drowsy and her head was still fuzzy from before. She opened her eyes but saw only darkness. His first thrust into her sent pleasure raking through her over the glowing coals of passion that had never initially died out.

But then, he stilled.

And everything changed.

She was so caught up in the pleasure that she didn't notice it at first until a tiny spark of pain made her gasp from the sudden contrast. At first she thought it was because she was still a little sore from the last time, but it was something entirely different altogether. She slipped her arm from around his neck to his shoulder as she tried to push him off of her. Tried to stop whatever it was he was doing to her. But she didn't have much strength to push him away from behind her.

Jareth grabbed her wrists and pinned them to her chest even as he brushed soft kisses over her neck. "Let it happen Sarah… shhh, just let it happen."

But she didn't want to let it happen and she struggled against him and whimpered as she only pushed him further into her. Tears quickly rushed to the fore and she sobbed out pleas for him to stop. Jareth merely captured her lips with his own and ever so slowly started to move in and out of her.

They came together. Sarah cried out as she felt his essence spill into her and felt it being absorbed into her very inner flesh, felt it settling within her… Sarah lay exhausted as Jareth lay soothing kisses along her skin.

"What did you do?"

"It is what is called the Nexus my sweet.

"Nexus?" but the words wouldn't stay in her mind and slipped from her even as consciousness slipped her towards sleep.

"You will always be mine, now sweet Sarah… we are bound together."

But Sarah could not voice the questions, she was suddenly so tired, and the last thing she felt was Jareth's arms holding her tightly to him.

His warmth was as comforting as it was disturbing.

JS JS JS JS JS JS

The boss stretched his neck. His fight with the snake had provided an excellent workout. He would have to repeat it tomorrow. He was almost ready to retire to bed when the scout group he had sent out came back. He had requested their report immediately.

"…And there were times when we found ourselves circling back with no clear memory of having done so. From all those signs we've managed to indicate an area that we think they are hiding in. However, the maps of the city's tunnel system don't show that there's much there underground.

'They must be running out of food soon,' the Boss thought to himself. Admittedly he hadn't been in this position long but the reports of his predecessor showed that the man had made attempts to prevent the rebels from obtaining food. He, himself, had continued to do that.

"I want you to organize ten crates of food to be stored in an area near where you think the Resistance groups are. I want it to be heavily guarded and I want you to make sure that word gets out that the food is there."

"Yes, sir."

"Yi," he called and the girl stepped from the shadows where she always awaited his orders. "I want you to send work to Dr. Karakis. He is to milk as much venom from the snake as possible."

The man who knelt at his feet lifted his head towards his leader, understanding sparkling in his eyes. "I know what you wish of us, sir."

The Boss looked at him and smiled. "Not everything, not yet."

Before he left the Boss gave one last order. "Yi, make sure the doctor also completes the anti-venom tonight."

JS JS JS JS JS JS

Linda walked into the room where the male Hearts leader sat with her plate. "Here, Michael. Eat this."

Michael barely looked up as he grabbed the black thing off the plate and tossed it into his mouth. He grimaced. "It was a little overcooked don't you think?"

A/N: Chapter has been edited. Full version found in . See profile for more details.


	13. Ch13: The Nexus

A/N: this is not me starting to update my stories again. This is just a chapter that sort of spilled out after a long period away.

Chapter 13 Nexus – Defined as a bond, link, connection…

The next time Sarah woke, it was to the wonderful feeling of being warm and comfortable; that alone instantly tipped her off that something was out of the ordinary. As she quickly assessed her situation she almost wept for two entirely different reasons. The first was for joy as the awful ache of her tailbone had miraculously disappeared from her tumble down into the sewers a few days ago. Usually it would have taken another week before the twinge of pain would disappear. The second reason was for the position she was in.

She could feel _his_ body behind her. Feel the heat and smooth skin of him wrapped around her back. Trying not to move in case she woke him up – she was not ready to face him yet - she quickly assessed her body. It didn't seem to feel sore like she though it might be, rather she felt light as if she would float out of her body and up into the air. Certainly her mind seemed to be floating in another reality.

Her skin flinched when a hand slid up over her bare hip and slid strong and sure towards her stomach.

Sarah flew from cold assessment to red hot fury in a nanosecond. She leaped out of the bed, mindless of her naked state in her rage. The man was such as bastard. So much of one she couldn't even pinpoint a single thing that directed pissed her off. It was the whole situation. She felt helpless and she hated it. Her tongue blurted out the first thing that it landed on. "You have no power over me."

Jareth smirked before throwing his head back and laughed. A deep, full throated laugh. His hair was a tangled mess, his eyes were bright with refreshing sleep and his features relaxed like a cat; like a big black panther lazing in the sun. The woman in Sarah couldn't deny that he was sexy first thing in the morning.

"My love, don't you think it's a bit late for those words" he mocked. And if she hadn't got it the first time he pointedly looked her body.

Sarah blushed, a red shade that spread over her neck and down towards her breasts, highlighting the rounded features. "I hate you" she spat, lacking for anything better to say and desperately looked around for something to cover herself up, to stop Jareth looking at her.

Jareth's eyes darkened when she blushed, his eyes dropping to look her at chest and the mockery in his voice thickened his accent. "No power, sweet Sarah? Really..." He drew the last word out.

The air tingled warmly around her and Sarah stiffened in preparation for an attack of horrible proportions, but when it came it was not what she expected. A flush of arousal swept so violent through her that she stumbled and dropped to one knee, clutching the edge of the bed for support. Her legs shook. Shocked and drawing in a ragged breath she looked at Jareth desperately searching answers.

He reached out a hand and brushed sable strands of hair out of her eyes. "It is part of the Nexus, part of the power that is afforded to me through the bond between us."

"Nexus?" A vague memory from last night came to her, but she couldn't concentrate on anything as another wave of arousal washed over her, clouding her mind with desire. The fact was this magic was as much of Jareth touching her as what it would be if it were his hands on her skin, his mouth on her flesh. Magic was just another part of Jareth that was giving her pleasure, just another prelude to the rapture that was sure to come... just another part of him contributing to the ecstasy. This was no mortal lover. How many times did she need the reminder?

She gritted her teeth against the want. Even if she did want him she didn't want the pain that had been there the first two times. She wasn't sure that the pleasure was worth it, especially the excruciating pain of the second time.

Was that sick? Surely it wasn't normal. What was wrong with her?

Easily reading her Jareth ran a soothing hand along the length of her hair before pulling her into his arms and bed. "No pain this time sweet Sarah. Only pleasure, I promise."

She couldn't deny him anyway – she was too new to this game – so she accepted his promise and lost herself to the pleasure which he gave her. After all, the deal made her his to do with as he pleased. Was it so wrong of her to get something out of it too?

JS JS JS JS JS JS JS

Toby was drowning. Every time he inhaled it was water that burned the back of his throat and not sweet air. He thrashed in panic and would have swum up towards the surface except he couldn't tell which way was up.

_"Toby."_

The voice was all around him and he recognized it as the sea guardian.

_"Toby. Be calm. Breathe in the water. It will not harm you."_

Like hell he was going to do that! He was going to die if he swallowed anymore water.

_"Toby. Breathe in the water."_

'Fuck you' he said in his mind.

Somehow the guardian must have heard him for there was laughter. The water around him squeezed his chest trying to push air out of him and force him to inhale.

_"Breathe in the water."_

He shook his head but he was fast feeling dizzy and light headed.

_"Breathe."_

Then, there was no choice. The last of his air left his mouth in bubbles that floated away from him and when his lungs burned his body took over and sucked in the water.

It hurt. The salt burned all the way down and he could feel how full his lungs were. His head felt like it was full of cotton and his limbs felt so heavy. So this was what downing was like. It was uncomfortable.

But he wasn't dead.

It took him a few minutes to realize this, to figure out he was uncomfortable enough to still be alive.

Toby peered around him and saw only water. It was clear and blue like the waters of Vanuatu, but dark as if it were nearly nighttime. What the hell was going on?

Schools of fish darted in front of him, making him jerk in surprise, and then swam into the darkness beyond. He felt like he had gone down the rabbit hole; did that make him Alice? He hoped not. He didn't want any damn white rabbits.

A sudden current flipped him upside down – or was it right side up? – and he heard the Sea Guardian again; her amusement vibrating the waters. _"The way your mind works is entertaining, flowing from one thought to the next, flavored by stories you have read."_

Oh great. Now he was entertainment...

Oh shit – it was reading his mind!

_ "I can only hear your thoughts when we're this close."_ An unseen hand – or something – ran up part of his thigh. Toby jerked in reaction. He swore on Sarah that he was never going swimming again.

"_Toby_" her voice was now low and intimate, "_when you first came upon the ocean you woke beings that had slept for thousands of years. There was something seeped into your skin, bound to your blood that this world had not seen for millennia. Something we thought had gone from the human world forever. Magic._

'Oh yeah, because he had lots of that' Toby listened with a skeptical mind, momentarily forgetting that the Sea Guardian could read his mind.

_ "That magic awakened your mind, allowed you to perceive things far beyond your chronological age. It is preparing you."_

Toby frowned. Could that explain why his IQ was so high? And preparing him for what?

_ "For when you can use that magic. Manipulate it. Turn it to your will."_

So did that mean that he was going to develop some nifty powers? Maybe he'll be able to melt that skin off his enemies – that would be very cool!

The Sea Guardian laughed and spun him around in the water until he was dizzy. "_Nothing so dramatic. Whatever you came in contact with, to stain you with such old magic. did not stay with you long enough to gift you with great power."_

Ok, that was disappointing.

_ "But it was enough to wake us. To wake me."_

"You've mentioned that before' Toby thought towards the entity.

_ "I am from ancient times on this world. When magic was thrumming though the very core of Earth, when all things followed its vibrations and were linked through its threads. _

'Poetic' Toby thought

_ "Back then, many creatures of magic roamed this world. My kind is of the water. We were guardians of the sea. But as all things do, we grew old and tired. Those of us who could die did. Those of us who couldn't, put ourselves to sleep in the hope that one day we would wake afresh to a new world. _

_However, as all best laid plans are – they are not what came to be. Years ago I was awakened, suddenly and without warning. Something foreign stepped into the sea, like a dye spreading time and time again. I followed it to you._

'Lucky me.'

_ "At some point you have contact in with some old magic. Magic not of this world. I thought to kill you, to have you gone and to go back to sleep. Yet, when I saw you, I saw a child; innocent and unknowing of what he carried within him. I paused in my plans and watched you._

Toby thought that he ought to thank the sea guardian for not killing him outright.

_ "You're welcomed._

'So this magic' Toby mused, 'what can I do with it? How can I access it? Assuming what you're saying is true.' But how could he totally disregard the possibility of magic when something as wondrous as this sea guardian was talking to him? And he was breathing underwater!

Of course he could have been drugged and this was just some very realistic hallucination.

Something pinched him hard on the arm and he yelped the best one could when under water.

_ "This is very real"_ the guardian said with a note of impatience, _"and while your mind can withstand the ability to wield magic, your body cannot. Not as it currently is."_

'What does that mean?'

_ "It means that I will need to physically change you so that your body can support what magic you can do. I will mark you to bring forth the power within you. My mark will also grant a certain amount of protection and possible allegiance from others._

'Others?' But he was ignored.

_There is an enemy out there Toby. You hide from them on the seas but they will need to be confronted. They grow more powerful by the day. They cannot be allowed to continue on their quest for domination over this world.'_

Toby frowned, _'_why should you care anyway?'

_ "Because if they become too powerful, they may find a way into my waters. While I may be able to fight them back if they are in my territory I cannot follow them on land. I have no power there. They will always have a safe zone there that they can retreat to and attack my kind from the distance. I will not let that scenario become a possibility._

Toby was about to ask why he should care, but he already knew the answer; he was currently safe on the ocean, for whatever reason, but if the Superiors spread out to the water he was a dead man. He did not want to die.

He took in a deep breath to try and clear his head and immediately regretting it when the salt in the water burned his throat more than before. He choked. 'But what about others of your kind? Surely there are some still on land who may be sleeping as you were?'

The water rippled around him and Toby got the feeling the sea guardian had shrugged.

_ "It has been many years since I spoke to a land or air dweller. They might have found a way to die since, or they might have moved onto other worlds. Some may yet still sleep. If there are any out there, they are either hiding, ignorant or simply do not care. Perhaps you might seek them out, but I would not count on their assistance."_

It seemed like he didn't have much of a choice. How he wished Jim was still alive to guide him through this decision; to have him to talk it through. 'This marking' he thought, 'is it going to hurt?'

There was a dark chuckle. _"Oh yes, it is going to hurt."_

He was given no other warning. It was like hot coals being pressed on the flesh of his back and then his skin being ripped off in strips. It never let up and it went on and on. He felt like he was being asphyxiated and crushed, the water felt like it was heating up to boiling He wished he could scream.

When the pain left and he was left feeling hollow and drained, he hung lifeless in the water. He barely felt the gentle stroke along his cheek.

_ "Happy thirteenth birthday Toby. My child."_

He was then pushed through the water until he was spat to the surface. For a moment he felt like he was drowning on air. He landed hard on the deck of his ship and coughed up salt water. He felt someone's broad hand thumping his back to help him. He tried to tell the hand to stop. How much more pain did he have to go through? His fingers clawed at the ship deck in agony.

"Damn it Toby, if it wasn't for the Sir Didymus there, we would have left already. We all thought you were dead. It's been hours!"

Toby winced at how loud the voice of his first mate was. He felt a migraine coming on. "Hours?"

"It's been nearly 10 hours since that thing swiped you."

"10 hours" Toby repeated dumbly. He gritted his teeth. He had to get his act together. He tried to get up but his arms and legs failed him and flopped back down. He felt arms around him lift him up to his feet and hold him up. Dear Sarah, if any of the crew saw him now he would loose any respect he had gained. How would he get it back?

Rick must have read his mind for he whispered closely in his ear. "As far as everyone is concerned Captain, at the moment you're some kind of god. How else could you summon a creature made of the sea, go with it into the murky depths and then come back out still alive half a day later?"

A weak grin touched Toby's lips at that absurbity, while at the same time he wanted to explain that none of that was his doing, he was just being swept along. "Need to… get to quarters" he breathed out. Was that his voice that was so scratchy?

"Anything you say Captain," Rick said.

Was that a touch of awe in his voice? Toby coughed, "don't tell me… you believe… that shit too?"

Rick grunted noncommittally and started moving them out of the sight of the crew. To others it might have looked as if the first mate was just holding his captain up, but Toby knew that Rick was just about carrying him below deck. As soon as the door to the Captain's quarters was shut Rick put him down on the bed where Toby instantly fell flat on his back.

"Come on kid; let's get you out of those wet clothes."

Toby sighed, at least it seemed like Rick was over whatever misguided awe he might have had before. Rick helped him sit up and stripped his shirt off. Toby wouldn't have noticed anything unless Rick had sucked in a shocked breath and muttered an expletive. His first mate's eyes were on his back.

Toby turned his neck as much as possible to peer over his shoulder into the mirror. He stretched out his shoulder blades to try and see it more clearly. His whole back from neck to waist, over his shoulders down the back his arms and forearms was covered in some shimmering pattern. It was faint and he could see it better when the light reflected off it. It looked like scales but when he ran his fingers over it all he felt was smooth skin.

Well. At least someone had given him a present today. Whatever the hell it was.

A/N: Chapter has been edited. Full version found in . See profile for more details.


	14. Ch14: Abiogenesis

A/N: Not edited for grammar, etc… but obviously you can tell that..

Chapter 14: Abiogenesis*

"Abiogenesis" Tessa stated some days later at a team leader meeting. Days since the incident with Ludo and Jareth saving them from a Force Group invasion. Days they had spent settling into their new location and killing off, and for some eating, biting fairies. Days since Sarah had been seen or heard of. Days they had spent trying to keep themselves as busy as possible. Not that keeping busy was too difficult with everything going on at the moment.

Mac raised an eyebrow. "Speak English Tess."

Tessa huffed at Mac. "In 1870 T. H. Huxley coined the word abiogenesis to describe the theory that non-living matter could produce living matter. A mythical tales tell us of the son ofApollo and Cyrene who lost his bees due to disease and famine. Cyrene told him to kill four bulls and on the ninth morning bees flew forth from the carcasses. Though it may not cover all the bases, what better word to describe magic! Or maybe it's spontaneous regeneration, and though that does roll of the tongue better I think that's more to do with reproduction than-"

"While it's nice to know that you have a scientific name for it" Kate cut into her rambling, "that doesn't help us much. We need facts not fiction".

Tessa threw her hands up in frustration. "But don't you see; fiction is exactly what we need to get the facts!"

"Anyone who is confused, please raise their hand" joked Johnny. Linda gave him a sharp reproving nudge.

Tessa glared at the Spades team leader before continuing. "Obviously Abiogenesis is a substance we've never come across, and by 'we' I mean our generation. Past generations have. Fairytales, folklore, fables, myths and legends have often been thought to have a factual background on which the story was based - this proves that they did! If we study those stories then we can derive what our ancestors knew about magic. Don't you dare give me that look Mac!"

Mac schooled his features so he didn't look so unconvinced about what Tess was telling them. Usually she was much more… scientific. Maybe the magic dust stuff had messed with her head? "Tess…" he began slowly, "regardless of where you start your research, the main question is can it be useful to us? Can we use it? Make more of it? We've seen the things that the Goblin King can do – are we able to replicate that?"

"What a minute" Kate raised her hands, "I remember something about the original tale of Cinderella. Didn't she have a horse that had its head cut off and then told the prince the lies the stepsisters were trying to pull? I know we've seen some wacked out weird stuff lately but I'm putting my foot down over talking dead horse heads."

Tess stared at her for a moment and then frowned. "I wonder how that would work? Though considering the mimicry nature of abiogenesis it may be that it can replicate and replace-"

"Tess!" Michael gave her a sharp look, "Stay on track here. Mac's right; we need to know if we can use it. How to use it. Having said that though," here he looked towards Kate considering her words, "you need to be careful. We don't need the dead reanimated." Suddenly realizing what he'd said he looked at Linda in mortification. "N-not that you being reanimated was bad. I mean, brought back to life. Healed. Errrr…"

Linda backhanded Michael on the arm. "Thanks for the zombie reference. We're already in a war zone we may as well add the undead apocalypse as well." Turning back to Tessa she picked up where Michael left off. "Tess, keep doing your research. If we can use this magic abiogenesis for ourselves then maybe we won't need to rely on the Goblin King."

"Sure" Tessa grinned and then lingered in the room.

"What's the problem?" asked Michael.

"Well, you see" Tessa began hesitantly, "I really can't do much more research until I get some better equipment…" Tess drifted off slowly.

"What sort of equipment?" Mac asked but the sinking gut feeling told him he already knew the answer

"The real high tech stuff. The stuff that can only be found in Superior governed labs. Abiogenesis is something out of this world. Literally from what I hear of the Goblin King."

Linda and Michael looked at each other. "We need to discuss this. "Linda thought out loud, "we need to see if this is a high enough priority. Going into Superior territory is dangerous enough. To be there long enough to do testing may be impossible."

Tessa looked like she wanted to push the issue further but managed to restrain herself."Of course. In the meantime I'll finish up writing the reports on what I already have."

There was a murmur of 'thanks Tess' as she left the room.

Mac waited until Tessa was well out of earshot. "We can't risk going into their labs. Not with how heavily guarded they are. Besides we've already started planning on stealing that shipment of supplies that's coming in ten days. We can't do two runs so close together; they'll up their security. At this point food is more important than looking at magic dust."

"Could we do them at the same time?" Johnny smoothed his hand over the map of the Seattle area. We haven't been able to solve the problem of getting the supplies out without an alarm going off within five minutes. Maybe we can use it to our advantage. The moment they find out our people are at the bay area, they'll move the bulk of their forces there. The labs will end up with decreased security."

Michael shook his head. "You're talking about splitting our forces, not to mention deliberately putting people at the docks in danger to give the lab group extra time, and it still doesn't solve the problem of how we're going to get out from the bay area without being caught in the first place.

"And we can't be sure that the distraction will give Tess enough time at the lab to do what she needs." Linda put in.

"What about Ludo?" Johnny pressed, "I assume he can call the rocks again. And now we got his… family here."

The team leaders looked at each other and then over towards the largest cavern. There was no one in camp who was over staring at the creatures. Ludo was orange and shaggy with the mouth that could swallow a man whole, but he was no means the biggest of the creatures. Four others had come with Ludo. Two were smaller and appeared to be twins. More like bright yellow fuzz balls than shaggy like their older siblings, they were full of energy and had literally bounced off the walls once or twice. They called themselves Nug and Gop The third was taller than Ludo but not quite as bulky. Kabo was an army green and faded quite well into the background of the tunnels. He was very similar in temperament to Ludo and allowed the children to climb all over him.

Then there was Hank the Tank. At least, that's what the freedom fighters had named him. He was twice the size of Ludo. Both in height and mass. He was a scary mother fucker too. Pitch black with paws the size of tree trunks, and unless it was a brightly lit room you couldn't tell if he was in the room or not. It was like when you were a kid and saw a shadow from your bed that you knew had to be some monster waiting to get you. Hank was the shadow. Hank was definitely scary monster size. While the rest could give out basic English words Hank only grunted and sat against the wall. That was unless he moved to eat something, or swat at a fairy. And he managed to hit them every time too, even if the other creatures only managed swing wildly at them like a puppy chasing its tail and trying to chomp on it unsuccessfully. Johnny had managed to coax Hank to sit near the fairies to keep the flying population from getting too close to the children. While the kids tugged, pulled, patted and used the other creatures like something between a jungle gym and a pony they didn't tend to go near Hank. Only Tasha, Linda's daughter, would sometimes sit next to him with a book and read out loud to him. Hank would never move, except he did open his eyes and seem to be looking at the pictures as Tasha flipped the pages.

"Maybe they can do other things as well. Like call an earthquake or something." Johnny mused.

"Maybe," Mac scrubbed a hand over his face tiredly, "but talking to them is like trying to talk to a puppy, complete with the big eyed confused looks. I don't think 'attack and kill at this point in the mission' is in their capacity."

"The other problem would be the Goblin King." Linda pointed out. "I don't think he'll allow his creatures to leave this area. We know Ludo and the others are here in protection of this place, not outside these tunnels."

"Would he have to know?" This came from Michael.

"He would no doubt find out somehow" Linda said resolutely, "he'd either stop up before we got anywhere or take it out on us later. I'm not so keen to find out how angry he can get."

"Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission" Michael quoted.

Linda looked up at him, "I'm not so sure about that."

"Alternatively, our scouts have located a warehouse near here that apparently has supplies." Melinda said. "If we can't work a plan for the docks, that might be a our next best bet. But if we can do the docks, that that's going to be a bigger payload.

Johnny turned away from the Labyrinth creatures with a sly grin. "You know, I think I have an idea…"

JS JS JS JS JS JS JS

Yi bowed before The Boss. "Dr Karakis has finished the anti-venom."

The Boss smiled. "Excellent. Tell our forces to start incorporating the venom with their weapons. I don't want the rebels getting up from scratches anymore. When we hit them, I want them put down permanently."

"Our engineers have also come up with plans to build smoke bombs that use the venom as a mist."

He sat back in his chair and stroked the arm thoughtfully. "Really? Are you saying that we could eventually smoke out the rebels and kill them in their own lair?"

"It's possible, sir."

The Boss nodded. "Tell them to continue, but I don't want it in use just yet. There's something I need from the Freedom Fighters before we kill them all. You are free to go."

Yi bowed again and left.

The Boss got up and went to his maps of Seattle. Smoothing a hand over the large circle area marked in red. Somewhere, in all of that space, the rebels were hiding. Somewhere there was Sarah. Once he had her he would kill the rest. His plans were coming together.

JS JS JS JS JS JS JS

An hour later the meeting between the Freedom Fighter leaders ended with a basic game plan for the dock attack.

"Michael!" Linda called to her partner. When she'd caught his eye she glared at him. "I'll eat your brain later."

Michael bowed his head in defeat while Mac clapped him on the back. "She's not going to let me live that one down for a while, is she."

"No" Mac agreed, "no, she's not."

"You know I could get some bandages from the supplies" Johnny chuckled.

"Screw you, asshole." Michael glared and stalked out of the room.

Mac caught Johnny's arm before they left the room and held him back from the others. "Have you given thought to who you want to partner you?"

Johnny flinched and turned away. "Some. I thought I'd wait a couple more days. See if she comes back."

Mac looked at his friend with dark eyes, hardening his heard for what he knew had to be said. "It's been days, we don't even know if she is coming back. We need you to lead in the attack. We need both leaders of the Spade team to lead in the attack. Whoever you choose needs to start knowing their role now, not the moment before the attack. Who have you got in mind?"

Johnny clenched his fists and breathed deeply. He wanted to yell at Mac. Lash out and ask him what it would be like if Johnny was asking who he wanted to replace Melinda with. "I was thinking of Hayden."

"The kid?" Mac sounded dubious.

Johnny shrugged, "not so much a kid; he turned nineteen a few months ago. Has a good head on his shoulders, even if he's still got some teenage rashness. I've heard how he's managed to get out of some tight spots before. Pretty ingenious stuff. If he can last out a few months as a leader, gain the respect of others, he'll be good." Johnny sighed and looked straight at Mac. "We need some younger blood on the team. We don't know how much longer this war is going to go on for, but if we can start training him now by the time we're too old or dead he could be ready to lead us all."

Mac nodded his agreement. "Go talk to him now. Get him started." He watched Johnny leave. He himself had been responsible for putting Johnny and Sarah together as partners, for raising Johnny up as a leader of the Freedom Fighters. The man could be devious using an attitude of 'the end justifying the means' but he had a big heart for those few he kept close. Mac knew that Johnny would be a good mentor for Hayden.

Mac took a step outside the office and was ambushed by Linda's daughter.

"Where's Sarah?" Tasha demanded.

Mac was stunned into silence. His honest thought of 'getting screwed 'til Sunday by the Goblin King' he knew was not the right thing to say to the little girl. Only by not opening his mouth did he stop the words.

"Where is she!" Tasha stamped her foot, gearing up for a good tantrum. "I haven't seen her for days and she promised me that she would finished telling me the story about the princess and the giant." Her bottom lip suddenly trembled. "Is she did? Did the Superiors get her?"

Mac knelt down on her level and ran a hand over her hair. "Oh no, honey. Sarah isn't dead. She's with the Goblin King."

"The man with the funny hair who got us here?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

Tasha seemed to accept this, then "what's she doing with him?"

"What's she doing with….?" Mac was so not prepared for this conversation. "She's…. she's helping him."

"Helping him with what?"

'Yes, Mac' his inner voice taunted him, 'helping him with what?' "Helping him make this area safer for us." There. That wasn't so far from the truth.

Tasha was not done with him yet. "When is she coming back?"

Mac smiled sadly at her, "I'm not sure. But I know she'll do everything in her power to come back and finish telling you the story."

"Is she coming back soon?"

"I'm sure she'll be back soon."

"Today?"

"Ummm, maybe not today."

"Tomorrow?"

Mac took a deep breath. "Tasha, honey, you know it's really important that we keep this place safe and secret, don't you?" Tasha nodded. "Well, that takes a lot of work. Sarah might be away for a little while longer but it's because she making us safer. Ok?

"Ok, Mac." Tasha threw her arms around his neck. "I love you."

"Love you too, honey. Now why don't you head back to the others."

"Kay." Tasha ran off back to the other children screaming "I know where's Sarah's gone!" She was instantly mobbed by the other children.

Mac chuckled to himself.

"Mmm…"

Mac swung around at the voice.

"Seems it's just as well I came back. Unfinished storytelling to do."

"Sarah?"

*Abiogenesis: Betty Kirkpatrick (2000) _Brewer's Concise Phrase and Fabels, _Caswell and Co., London.


End file.
